wMi. 


LITTLE  TALKS 
to  LITTLE  PEOPLE 


'f 


T 


VMES 
FARRA 


JUL  1  9  1916 


^5iC/;l  '^ 


.^^. 


BV  4315  .F377  1910 
Farrar,  James  M. 
Little  talks  to  little 
people 


LITTLE  TALKS 

TO 
LITTLE  PEOPLE 


LITTLE  TALKS 

TO 

LITTLE     PEOPLE 


BY 


(      JUL 


JAMES  M.  FARRAR,  D.D 

Pastor  of  the  First  Reformed  Church,   Brooklyn,   N.    T.,  and 
Minister  of  the  First   Organized  yunior   Congregation. 

Author  of  **  A  Junior   Congregation^^ 


FUNK&   WAGNALLS    COMPANY 

NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON 

19  lO 


Copyright  1910 

BY 

FUNK  &  WAGNALLS  COMPANY 

[Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America} 

Published  September,  1910 

All  Rights  Reserved 


Contents 


SPRING 

(Begins  March  21st)  Paee 

1st  Sunday — Every  Tomb  a  Sleeping-Room 11 

2d         "          All  Fools'  Day 15 

3d         "          The  Little  Brown  Bed 19 

4th       "          Music  Lessons 25 

5th       "          The  Garden  of  the  Soul— (Grant's  Birthday)  30 

6th       "          Grandpa's  Dream 35 

7th       "          Sentiment 39 

8th       "          Apple-blossom  Sunday 44 

9th       "          Why? 49 

10th       "  Painting  the  Face  on  the  Inside — (Memorial 

Day) 53 

11th       *'          Head  and  Heels 57 

12th       "          Flag-day 62 

13th       "          The  Invisible  Prince— (Rose  Sunday)     .     .  67 


SUMMER 

{Begins  June  21st) 

1st  Sunday — Love  and  Sunshine  Company 75 

2d         "  The  Pathfinder 79 

3d         "  The  Gold  Bullet 84 

4th       '•  The  Cure  for  Curiosity 89 

V 


CONTENTS 

Page 

5th  Sunday—Eyes  That  See 94 

6th       "           Faultfinders  and  Faultreceivers     ....  98 

7th       "          Peacemakers  in  August 103 

8th       "          One  for  You  and  One  for  Me 109 

9th       "          Playing  to  Music 114 

10th       "          The  Land  of  Forget 119 

11th       "          The  Vex  Hospital 125 

12th       "          A  Good  Telltale 130 

13th       "          Heartsick  and  Homesick 135 


AUTUMN 

{Begins  September  21st) 

1st  Sunday — Canned  Simshine 143 

2d         "          Jack  Tar,  Jr 148 

3d         "          Diego,  the  Dago 153 

4th       "          The  Shadow  Child 157 

5th       "          The  Secret  Word 163 

6th       "          HaUowe'en 168 

7th       "          Chrysanthemum  Sunday 173 

8th       "          Fruit  for  Thanksgiving  Dinners    ....  178 

9th       "          Thanksgiving  Ragamuffins 182 

10th       "          The  Lure  of  the  Lesson 187 

11th       "          The  Call  of  the  Church 191 

12th       "          Finding  a  Good  Thing 196 

13th       "          A  Ring  to  Make  Him  Sing 200 

vi 


CONTENTS 
WINTER 

(Begins  December  21st)  p 

1st  Sunday — Christmas  Measure 207 

2d         "  The  Athletic  Day 213 

3d        "  The  Pity  Ear 218 

4th       "  Alongside  of  God 222 

5th       "  Take  It  With  You 225 

6th       "  Bone  Breaking 230 

7th       "  Lincoln's  Birthday 235 

8th       "  St.  Valentine's  Day 242 

9th       "  Washington's  Birthday 248 

10th       "  Getting  Ready  for  Church 253 

11th       "  The  Village  Blacksmith 257 

12th       "  Lessons  from  Lent 262 

13th       "  Children's  Palm  Sunday 268 


vii 


FIRSTWORD 


FIRSTWORD 


FOR  CHILDREN  ONLY 

IN  1908  I  wrote  fifty-three  letters.  Fifty-two; 
one  for  each  week  of  the  year  I  wrote  for  you. 
Funk  &  Wagnalls  Company  bound  them  in  a  book 
and  named  it  "A  Junior  Congregation."  The  first 
letter  was  for  your  pastor,  parents  and  other  people, 
telling  them  about  the  Junior  Congregation  and 
how  the  children  can  have  a  church  and  congregation 
all  their  own.  This  letter  added  to  your  fifty-two 
made  the  fifty-three  bound  in  the  book.  All  these 
books  were  sold  and  a  new  edition  was  printed.  The 
children  from  different  parts  of  the  country  asked 
for  more  letters,  as  they  wanted  to  hear  and  read 
more  stories.  Here's  a  letter  from  a  far-away  Junior : 

Dear  Doctor  Farrar : 

I  am  a  little  girl  and  my  grandmother 
reads  your  sermons  to  little  children  every 
week  to  me,  and  I  like  them  very  much.  I 
shall  always  remember  what  you  said  about 
"Palm  Sunday,"  it  was  so  good.  I  think 
3 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

you  are  very  good  to  talk  so  much  to  little 
children  like  me. 

My  father  preaches  every  Sunday  to  big 
folks.  When  I  grow  bigger,  I  hope  I  shall 
understand  him  better. 

I  thought  you  would  be  pleased  to  know 
about  me.  I  wonder  if  you  have  a  little  girl 
like  me.    My  name  is 

"EHzabeth " 

Your  new  book,  "Little  Talks  to  Little  People,"  is 
the  answer  to  the  many  requests  for  more  stories. 
I  had  to  write  it.  Indeed  I  just  could  not  help  wri- 
ting it.  Why.''  Because  I  could  not  get  close  enough 
to  speak  to  you.  Some  day  I  hope  to  have  a  chil- 
dren's wireless  telephone.  We  may  some  day  have 
one  that  will  let  us  see  each  other  while  we  talk.  Yes, 
see  each  other  when  we  are  hundreds  of  miles  apart. 
Then  we  will  arrange  a  day  and  hour  when  I  can  see 
you  all,  say  "Good-morning,"  and  tell  you  a  story. 
Until  that  someday  comes,  we  will  just  have  to  write 
and  read  the  letters. 

Fifty-two  stories  in  the  first  book  and  fifty-two  in 
the  second  book,  one  hundred  and  four  stories.  Have 
I  any  more  in  store.''  Yes,  I  have  more  stories  in  my 
brain-box.     What   do   I   mean   by   a   "brain-box?" 

4 


FIRSTWORD 

Every  day  I  am  looking  for  some  good  stories  for 
my  Juniors.  When  I  find  a  story  that  makes  my 
heart  thump  and  sends  a  bump  in  my  throat  and 
dumps  a  tear  out  of  my  eye,  I  know  that  is  the  story 
for  my  Juniors.  How  do  I  know  a  child  will  enjoy  the 
story  ?    Will  you  keep  the  secret  ? 

When  I  grew  to  be  a  man  I  took  the  boy,  that  I 
used  to  be,  with  me,  and  he  loves  me  and  plays  with 
me  every  day.  Sometimes  he  says,  "Come  away  from 
these  grown  people,  leave  your  silk  hat  at  home  and 
romp  with  me."  When  the  boy  in  my  heart  tells  me 
the  story  he  likes,  I  put  it  away.  On  a  card  I  put 
the  name  of  the  story  and  where  I  have  hidden  it. 
The  cards  are  put  in  a  box  called  a  "card-index,"  and 
this  box  I  call  my  "brain-box." 

Did  your  father  or  mother  ever  find  and  read  a 
letter  written  just  for  you?  Did  they  say  it  was 
not  worth  reading?  Probably  your  answer  was  that 
it  was  not  written  for  them.  Except  they  "become  as 
httle  children"  they  can  not  enjoy  your  letters.  These 
letters  are  all  just  for  you,  this  is  true.  In  this  Httle 
book  of  fifty-two  letters  your  friend  hopes  to  lead 
you  to  read.  Great  Talks  to  Little  People.  "Great 
Talks  ?"  you  say.  Yes !  In  Great  Talks  you  will  find 
sixty-six  letters.     In  the  first  part  are  old  letters; 

5 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

thirty-nine  in  all;  in  the  second  part  you  will  find 
twenty-seven  new  letters.  In  these  Great  Talks  you 
will  read  the  most  beautiful  and  interesting  stories 
ever  written  for  boys  and  girls.  There  are  really 
sixty-six  Great  Talks;  thirty-nine  called  Old  Testa- 
ment, and  twenty-seven  called  New  Testament.  They 
are  all  bound  in  one  book  called  The  Bible.  At  the 
beginning  of  each  of  the  Little  Talks  you  will  find 
a  quotation  from  the  Great  Talks. 

If  the  Little  Talks  will  help  you  to  find  and  to 
enjoy  the  Great  Talks,  then  your  friend  will  be  very 
happy.  Shall  I  tell  you  a  story.?  Here  is  one  that 
should  be  fresh  and  cool  as  I  found  it  in  "The  Well- 
spring." 

One  night  a  man  took  a  little  taper  out  of  a  drawer 
and  lighted  it,  and  began  to  ascend  a  long,  winding 
stair. 

"Where  are  you  going.?"  asked  the  taper. 

"Away  high  up,"  said  the  man,  "higher  than  the 
top  of  the  house  where  we  sleep." 

"And  what  are  you  going  to  do  there.?"  said  the 
taper. 

"I  am  going  to  show  the  ships  out  at  sea  where 
the  harbor  is,"  said  the  man,  "for  we  stand  here  at 
the  entrance  to  the  harbor,  and  some  ships  far  out  on 

6 


FIRSTWORD 

the  stormy  sea  may  be  looking  for  a  light  even  now." 

"Alas !  No  ship  could  ever  see  my  light,"  said  the 
little  taper,  "it  is  so  very  small." 

"If  your  light  is  small,"  said  the  man,  "keep  it 
burning  bright,  and  leave  the  rest  to  me." 

Well,  when  the  man  got  up  to  the  top  of  the  hght- 
house,  for  this  was  a  lighthouse  they  were  in,  he  took 
the  little  taper  and  with  it  lighted  the  great  lamps 
that  stood  ready  there  with  their  polished  reflectors 
behind  them. 

Hoping  these  little  talks  may  light  the  great  lamps 
of  love  in  your  souls  and  show  you  the  way  to  "The 
Great  Talks,"  I  am. 

The  Junior's  friend, 

James  M.  Farrae. 


SPRING 

(March  21- June  SO) 
THE  COMING  OF  SPRING 

There's  something  in  the  air 

That's  new  and  sweet  and  rare — 

A  scent  of  summer  things, 
A  whir  as  if  of  wings. 

There's  something,  too,  that's  new 

In  the  color  of  the  blue 
That's  in  the  morning  sky, 

Before  the  sun  is  high. 

— N.  Perry. 


FOR  FIRST  SUNDAY  IN  SPRING 
EVERY  TOMB  A  SLEEPING-ROOM 

"In  the  garden." — John  xix.,  41 

GOD  made  this  world,  but  did  not  finish  it.  He 
did  that  part  only  that  no  other  person  could 
do.  Then  God  made  man  and  told  him  to  complete 
the  work.  As  Adam,  the  first  man,  had  no  experience, 
God  gave  him  a  sample  of  the  world's  work.  He 
made  a  large  garden,  and  through  it  caused  rivers 
to  flow,  and  in  it  trees  to  grow.  Flowers  were  made 
to  bloom;  He  gave  days  without  gloom.  In  the 
sand  by  the  riverside  was  gold,  and  in  the  land  there 
was  wealth  untold.  He  gave  the  birds  a  song,  and 
in  all  the  garden  there  was  no  wrong.  God  gave 
Adam  a  wife  from  his  own  side,  that  from  him  she 
might  not  hide.  Adam's  rib  was  his  wife's  crib,  that 
rocked  when  he  laughed. 

From  that  time  on  men  and  women  have  been  at 
work  making  the  world  into  a  garden.  They  are 
making  the  wilderness  to  blossom  as  a  rose — gardens 
in  the  country,  gardens  in  the  city,  gardens  in  the 
dooryard,  gardens  on  the  roof-tops,  gardens  every- 
where. 

11 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

Our  text  tells  us  of  something  wonderful  in  a 
garden.  You  have  seen  many  beautiful  things  in 
gardens,  but  nothing  so  wonderful  as  this:  "In  the 
garden  a  new  sepulcher."  It  was  Easter  morning 
and  over  the  sepulcher  the  trees  were  bending,  the 
flowers  were  blooming,  and  birds  were  singing.  By 
the  sepulcher  Christ  was  standing,  and  saw  the 
women  who  were  weeping.  Christ  had  risen  from  the 
dead  and  had  stept  out  of  the  sepulcher  into  the  gar- 
den. Had  the  women  believed  what  He  told  them 
before  He  died,  they  would  have  been  smiling,  not 
weeping.  Under  the  fruit-trees  He  stood,  Himself 
the  first  fruit  of  all  who  sleep. 

Our  word  "cemetery"  means  a  "sleeping-room." 
Sleeping-rooms  in  a  garden.  Our  cemeteries  are  the 
world's  most  beautiful  gardens.  Greenwood  in  Brook- 
lyn, Mount  Auburn  in  Boston,  Laurel  Hill  in  Phila- 
delphia, Spring  Grove  in  Cincinnati,  and  Lone  Moun- 
tain in  San  Francisco.  On  the  last  Easter  morning, 
the  resurrection  day,  the  dead  will  rise  and  walk 
out  into  the  garden.  Joy,  joy,  joy,  more  joy  at 
Easter  time.  Flowers  and  song,  song  and  flowers, 
more  flowers  and  song,  for  Easter  is  the  world's 
garden  with  an  empty  tomb!  I  wish  I  could  march 
through  Greenwood  to-day  with  the  Junior  Congre- 

12 


EVERY  TOMB  A  SLEEPING-ROOM 

gation,  out  through  the  cemetery  where  our  loved 
ones  sleep.  Every  tomb  a  sleeping-room,  where  we 
with  our  loved  ones  will  some  day  wake  and  step  out 
into  the  garden  to  meet  our  risen  Christ.  Shall  I 
tell  you  a  story,  just  as  I  read  it? 

The  Moravian  Graveyard  at  Salem,  North  Caro- 
lina, tho  more  than  a  century  old,  is  laid  out  in  as 
perfect  order  as  any  of  the  modern  city  cemeteries. 
The  headstones  are  all  exactly  alike,  and  are  placed 
flat  upon  the  green  mounds.  On  the  afternoon  pre- 
ceding Easter,  a  large  number  of  citizens  meet  at 
the  graveyard  for  the  purpose  of  scouring  and  polish- 
ing the  headstones,  in  preparation  for  the  early  serv- 
ice. Every  stone  is  left  shining  in  its  pure  whiteness, 
and  the  graves  are  literally  covered  with  fragrant 
blossoms. 

On  Easter  morning,  long  before  the  sky  begins  to 
redden  with  coming  day,  the  Moravian  band  makes 
a  tour  of  the  city.  With  sweet  music,  they  wake  the 
people  to  take  part  in  the  hallowed  sunrise  service. 
The  music  in  the  still  morning  air  is  touching,  sweet 
and  pathetic.  At  half -past  five  they  gather  by  the 
thousands  in  front  of  the  Moravian  meeting-house  to 
join  in  the  first  responsive  service.  At  the  close  of 
these    services,    the    many    attendants     march,  with 

13 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

almost  noiseless  tread  and  In  solemn  silence,  to  the 
graveyard  beneath  the  stately  cedar-trees,  the  band, 
meanwhile  discoursing  the  sweetest  music. 

Upon  the  arrival  of  the  procession  thousands  of 
men,  women  and  children  stand  along  the  walks  be- 
tween rows  of  well-kept  graves.  Then  all  join  heart- 
ily in  singing  the  resurrection  hymn,  "Now  is 
Christ  risen  from  the  dead,"  and  while  they  sing,  each 
one  lays  an  Easter  lily  upon  the  grave  at  his  feet. 
After  the  triumphant  closing,  "He  rose,  He  rose.  He 
burst  the  bars  of  death  and  triumphed  o'er  the 
grave,"  the  congregation  unites  in  the  closing  por- 
tion of  the  litany,  and  with  the  final  "Amen,"  the 
sun  rises  majestically  over  the  eastern  hilltops,  flood- 
ing with  Easter  brightness  hundreds  of  joyful  faces. 


14 


FOR  SECOND  SUNDAY  IN  SPRING 
ALL  FOOLS'  DAY 

"Who  knoweth  whether  he  shall  be  a  wise  man  or  a  fool?" — 
Eccl  ii.,  19 

THE  word  "fool"  has  rough  edges ;  it  almost 
scratches  the  tongue.  In  our  text  it  means 
thick-headed; — "Who  knoweth  whether  he  shall  be  a 
wise  man  or  thick-headed?"  Some  of  you  boys  and 
girls  will  learn  on  April  first  whether  you  are  wise 
or  thick-headed.  April  first,  "All  Fools'  day,"  a  day 
when  you  must  have  your  wits  ready  for  use.  It  is 
the  meanest  day  of  the  year.  The  meanest  because 
it  is  the  day  when  we  try  to  make  others  feel  mean. 
In  England  those  who  think  they  are  wise  try  to  send 
the  thick-headed  on  foolish  errands,  for  example;  to 
ask  some  one  the  name  of  Adam's  grandfather.  In 
Scotland  they  call  the  foolish  one  a  "gowk."  Some- 
times the  one  who  is  supposed  to  be  thick-headed 
proves  to  be  the  one  who  is  wise.  This  was  true  in 
the  first  celebration  I  can  find  of  April  Fools'  day, 
443  years  ago.  It  was  the  occasion  of  a  wager  in 
1466  between  Duke  Philip  of  Burgundy  and  his  court 

15 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

fool.  The  wager  was  that,  if  the  jester  succeeded 
in  hoaxing  the  Duke  on  April  first,  he  was  to  have 
his  fool's  cap  filled  with  golden  ducats.  If  the  Duke 
succeeded  in  hoaxing  the  jester  the  latter  was  to 
pay  the  penalty  with  his  life.  The  Duke  at  once 
set  to  work  to  make  the  jester  very  drunk,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  his  efforts.  Early  on  the  following  morn- 
ing soldiers  seized  him,  brought  him  into  a  room  all 
hung  with  black,  where  a  mock  trial  resulted  in  his 
being  sentenced  to  death.  The  block  and  the  execu- 
tioner were  brought  in  and  the  jester,  blindfolded, 
was  laid  on  the  block.  The  executioner  struck  the 
jester  with  a  stick,  pretending  it  was  a  sword.  As 
he  was  struck  some  one  poured  warm  blood  on  his 
neck  to  make  him  think  that  he  was  bleeding.  At 
this  moment  the  Duke  thought  it  was  time  to  laugh. 
So  did  all  those  present.  But  the  laughter  stopt 
when  the  jester  remained  apparently  Hfeless.  "Ter- 
ror has  killed  him,"  cried  the  Duke.  Then  he  sent 
for  the  doctors,  who  labored  over  the  alleged  corpse 
for  some  time  before  the  jester  opened  his  eyes  and 
laughing,  cried,  "April  fools,  all  of  you.  Now,  Duke, 
pay  me  my  gold."  Then  it  was  time  for  the  Duke  to 
ask,  "Who  knoweth  whether  he  shall  be  a  wise  man 
or  thick-headed  .f^" 

16 


ALL  FOOLS'  DAY 

Some  of  our  wise  people  believe  that  the  time  has 
come  to  change  All  Fools'  day  into  an  All  Wise  day. 
The  members  of  the  Optimists'  Club  of  America 
have  made  it  Optimists'  day.  On  the  last  day 
of  March  more  than  a  thousand  members  held 
a  watch-night  service  at  the  Waldorf-Astoria  and 
welcomed  April  1,  1909,  as  the  first  Optimists' 
day.  It  is  a  day  upon  which  every  one  should 
do  some  kind  act,  and  say  some  kind  thing.  It  is 
a  day  on  which  men,  women  and  children  can  send 
out  cards  and  try  in  some  way  to  lift  the  gloom  which 
hovers  around  many  lives.  Your  pastor  wants  his 
Junior  Congregation  to  join  the  Optimists'  Club, 
and  he  hopes  each  member  will  frown  on  the  idea  of 
"All  Fools'  day,"  and  will  try  to  make  it  All  Opti- 
mists' day.  Optimist  is  a  big  word,  but  not  too  big 
for  my  Juniors.  It  means  seeing  the  bright  side  of 
things,  and  taking  both  sides  of  the  best  things. 
A  pessimist  is  one  who  sees  the  dark  side,  and  takes 
the  worst  side  of  everything.  Some  one  has  tried  to 
show  the  difference  between  the  two  in  the  following 
way.  Suppose  there  is  a  large  cruller  on  the  plate, 
the  optimist  would  take  the  cruller,  while  the  pessi- 
mist would  take  the  hole.  Southey,  in  one  of  his 
letters,  writes  of  the  Spaniard  who  always  put  on 

17 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

his  spectacles  when  about  to  eat  cherries,  that  they 
might  look  bigger  and  more  tempting.  He  was  an 
optimist. 

Here  is  a  story  to  show  you  how  a  little  girl,  who 
was  a  pessimist,  was  converted  into  an  optimist.  She 
did  not  believe  that  God  could  hear  her  prayer  amid 
all  the  music  of  heaven.  She  was  a  pessimist.  Pro- 
fessor Drummond,  who  related  the  incident,  told  her 
that  if  it  were  necessary,  God  would  say  to  cherubim 
and  seraphim  and  all  the  angelic  choir,  "Be  still; 
there  is  a  little  girl  down  on  earth  who  wants  to 
speak  to  me."  Believing  this,  she  became  an  optimist. 

A  colored  man  was  asked  how  he  managed  to  be 
so  contented  and  joyful.  His  reply  was,  "I  jes' 
walks  out  on  de  promises  of  God,  and  I  lies  flat  on 
my  back,  and  I  prays  straight  up."  Try  this  plan 
and  it  will  make  you  an  optimist. 

I  hope  you  all  will  learn  these  lines : 

It  is  easy  enough  to  be  pleasant 
When  life  flows  along  like  a  song, 

But  the  Junior  worth  while, 

Is  the  one  who  will  smile 
When  everything  goes  dead  wrong. 


18 


D 


THE  THIRD  SUNDAY  IN  SPRING 

THE  LITTLE  BROWN  BED 

I  sleep,  but  my  heart  waketh." — Solomon's  Song,  v.,  2 
ID  you  ever  see  a  flower  going  asleep?    When 


it  begins  to  droop  and  hang  its  head,  it  is  get- 
ting sleepy.  Watch  it  and  you  will  see  how  snugly 
it  rolls  itself  up  in  a  little  brown  bed  you  call  a  seed. 
In  this  bed  the  flower  is  sound  asleep.  The  flower 
sleeps  all  Winter,  "as  snug  as  a  bug  in  a  rug."  What 
you  call  "Spring,"  the  season  after  Winter,  is 
"Mother  Nature,"  going  from  bed  to  bed  to  wake 
up  her  flower  friends  asleep  in  the  seeds.  She  has 
a  big  family  to  wake  up.  She  lifts  the  shades  of 
Winter  and  lets  in  the  bright  light.  If  they  do  not 
wake  she  sprinkles  water  on  them,  shakes  them,  and 
keeps  her  temper  until  all  are  awake.  Some  are  easy 
to  wake  and  they  get  right  up,  others  are  very  sleepy 
and  dear  old  Spring  has  to  be  very  patient.  They 
sleep,  but,  way  down  in  the  seed  something  is  awake. 
They  sleep  but  the  seed  heart  waketh.  Some  one 
whose  name  I  do  not  know,  a  friend  of  "Mother 
Spring,"  says: 

19 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

"Far  down  in  Mother  Earth  a  tiny  seed  was  sleep- 
ing, safely  wrapt  in  a  warm  bed.  The  little  seed  had 
been  asleep  for  a  long,  long  time,  and  now  somebody 
thought  it  was  time  to  wake  up.  This  somebody  was 
an  earthworm,  a  friend  of  Mother  Spring.  He  had 
been  creeping  about  and  found  all  the  seeds  in  the 
neighborhood  had  roused  themselves.  They  were 
pushing  their  roots  down  into  the  earth  and  lifting 
their  heads  up  through  the  soil  into  the  bright  sun- 
shine and  fresh  air.  So  when  the  v/orm  saw  this  little 
seed  still  sleeping,  he  cried,  'Oh,  you  lazy  fellow, 
wake  up !  All  the  seeds  are  awake  and  growing,  and 
you  have  slept  long  enough !' 

"  *But  how  can  I  grow  or  move  at  all  in  this  tight- 
brown  sleeping-gown.'^'  said  the  seed,  in  a  drowsy  tone. 

"  'Why,  push  it  off ;  that's  the  way  the  other  seeds 
have  done.  Just  move  about  a  Httle  and  it  will  come 
off.'  All  the  time  the  worm  was  telling  him  how 
happy  the  other  seeds  were,  now  that  they  had  lifted 
their  heads  into  the  sunshine. 

"  'Oh,  dear !  Oh,  dear !'  said  the  seed,  'what  shall 
I  do.?  I  am  so  sleepy  I  can't  keep  awake  any  longer,' 
and  he  fell  asleep  again. 

"The  little  seed  slept  soundly  for  a  long  time.  At 
last  he  awoke  and  found  Mother  Spring  throwing 


THE  LITTLE  BROWN  BED 

water  in  his  face.    She  called  it  a  Spring  shower  for 
the  May  flower. 

"Then  he  felt  so  warm  and  happy  that  he  cried,  *I 
really  believe  I  am  going  to  grow  after  all.  Who 
woke  me  up  and  helped  me  out  of  bed?  I  don't  see 
any  one  near  by.' 

"  'I  woke  you,'  said  a  soft  voice  close  by.  'I  am 
a  sunbeam.  Mother  Spring  sent  me  to  wake  you,  and 
my  friends  the  rain-drops  washed  the  sleep  out  of 
your  eyes.' 

"  'Oh,  thank  you,'  said  the  seed.  'You're  all  very 
kind.    Will  you  help  me  to  grow  into  a  plant  too .?' 

"  'Yes,'  said  the  sunbeam,  'I'll  come  as  often  as  I 
can  to  help  you,  and  the  rain-drops  will  come  too.  If 
you  work  hard,  with  our  help,  you  will  become  a 
beautiful  plant,  I'm  sure.' 

"  'But,'  said  the  seed,  'how  did  you  know  that  I 
was  sleeping  here?    Could  you  see  me?'  ' 

"  'No,'  said  the  sunbeam,  'but  Mother  Spring  saw 
you.  She  saw  you  beneath  the  ground  trying  to 
grow.  She  called  the  rain-drops  to  her,  and  said, 
'One  of  my  seed  children  is  sleeping  down  there,  and 
he  wants  to  grow.  Go  down  and  help  him  and  tell 
the  sunbeams  to  follow  you  and  wake  the  seed,  so 
that  he  may  begin  to  grow  as  soon  as  he  will.' 

21 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

"  'How  kind  she  is,'  said  the  seed,  'if  she  had  not 
seen  me  sleeping  here  I  should  have  slept  on  and  on 
and  on,  slept  forever  in  my  little  brown  bed.  How 
did  Mother  Spring  know  I  was  here  ?' 

"  'She  is  a  servant  of  God,  who  knows  all  things. 
He  knows  where  every  seed  sleeps  and  sends  Mother 
Spring  with  her  friends  to  wake  them  up.' 

"  'How  can  I  thank  Him?'  said  the  seed.  'What 
can  I  do  that  will  please  Him  very  much?' 

"  'Grow  into  the  best  plant  that  you  possibly  can,' 
said  the  sunbeam.  'That  will  please  God  most 
of  all.' 

"So  the  seed  grew  into  a  beautiful  vine.  He 
climbed  higher  and  higher  toward  the  heavens,  from 
which  the  Father  smiled  down  upon  him  to  reward  his 
labor." 

There  is  some  one  more  beautiful  and  valuable  than 
a  flower.  Some  one  who  needs  sleep  more  than  the 
seed  needs  it,  and  who  says : 

"Rock  me  to  sleep,  mother,  rock  me  to  sleep." 
This  some  one  is  a  little  child. 

Before  going  to  sleep  you   should  say,   "In   the 

morning  wake  me  from  sleep — mother,  wake  me  from 

sleep."     How  often  you  would  be  late  for  breakfast, 

late  for  school,  late  for  church,  if  mother  did  not 

wake  you. 

22 


THE  LITTLE  BROWN  BED 

What  part  of  you  wakes  up  the  rest  of  you  when 
mother  calls?  The  part  of  you  that  does  not  sleep. 
The  part  that  keeps  on  thinking  while  you  sleep. 
You  call  the  thinking  a  dream.  What  does  our  text 
say?  "I  sleep,  but  my  heart  waketh."  It  is  that 
part  that  will  never  sleep.  What  we  call  death  the 
Bible  calls  sleep.  There  is  a  short  sleep  from  which 
we  wake  in  the  morning.  Then  there  is  a  long  sleep 
from  which  we  will  wake  some  morning  in  heaven. 
There  is  a  beautiful  story  in  the  ninth  chapter  of 
Matthew. 

A  man  came  to  Christ  and  told  him  that  his  dear 
little  girl  was  dead.  Christ  went  home  with  the 
father,  and  when  He  saw  the  Httle  girl.  He  said, 
"She  is  not  dead,  but  sleepeth."  The  people  laughed 
at  Christ  and  told  Him  the  little  girl  was  dead. 
Christ  woke  her  as  gently  as  Spring  wakes  the  seed, 
took  her  by  the  hand  and  she  arose.  She  was  only 
asleep.  The  word  "cemetery"  means  sleeping- place. 
As  Mother  Spring  wakes  the  seed,  so  your  mother 
wakes  you.  Our  greatest  friend,  Christ,  will  some 
day  wake  all  who  sleep,  all  who  are  called  dead. 
Listen ! 

"My  beloved  spake,  and  said  unto  me,  'Rise  up,  my 
love,  my  fair  one,  and  come  away,  for  lo,  the  Winter 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

is  past,  the  rain  is  over  and  gone,  the  flowers  appear 
on  the  earth;  the  time  of  the  singing  of  birds  is 
come,  and  the  voice  of  the  turtle  is  heard  in  our  land ; 
the  fig-tree  putteth  forth  her  green  figs,  and  the  vines 
with  the  tender  grapes  give  a  good  smell.  Arise,  my 
love,  my  fair  one,  and  come  away.'  " 

Would  it  not  be  splendid  to  write  on  the  tomb,  "I 
sleep,  but  my  heart  waketh." 

Rejoice,  for  Spring  is  here! 


Q4, 


FOR  FOURTH  SUNDAY  IN  SPRING 

IVrUSIC  LESSONS 

"Add  to  your  faith."— 77  Pet,  i.,  5 

MOUNTAINS  and  mice  are  musical.  In  Hawaii 
there  is  a  singing  mountain.  If  two  persons 
whose  voices  chord,  sing  from  one  of  the  heights,  the 
mountain  will  catch  up  the  song  and  take  it  from  cliff 
to  cliff,  carrying  it  off  into  the  distance  in  one  direc- 
tion, and  bringing  it  back  to  another,  until  all  parts 
of  the  mountain  are  singing.  Then  if  the  singers 
suddenly  cease  their  song,  the  mountains  will  go  on 
singing  it  for  quite  a  long  time  after  they  are  silent. 
The  natives  hear  the  music  and  believe  that  the  souls 
of  their  departed  warriors  have  gone  to  this  moun- 
tain and  are  singing  of  their  victories. 

I  read  of  a  mouse  that  sang  like  a  small  bird. 
The  writer  said  it  looked  like  other  mice,  but  acted 
like  a  wren.  Such  a  quivering,  musical  warble  he 
said,  could  scarcely  come  from  any  other  throat 
than  that  of  a  tiny  bird.  The  writer  said  this  mouse 
was  caught  and  put  in  a  cage  and  petted  like  a 
canary.     In  Japan  there  are  insects  that  sing,  and 

25 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

one  that  sings  very  sweetly  is  called  "Insect  Bell," 
its  voice  being  like  a  little  silver  bell. 

Mountains  may  be  musical,  but  they  can  not  take 
music  lessons.  It  may  be  true  that  mice  can  sing, 
but  I  fear  they  would  make  some  excuse  if  they  had 
to  practise.  Probably  they  would  tell  mama  there 
was  a  cat  in  the  music-room. 

Job  tells  us  that  when  God  laid  the  foundations  of 
this  world,  "The  morning  stars  sang  together,  and 
all  the  sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy."  I  believe  that 
God  put  part  of  that  song  into  everything  He  made. 
We  find  music  in  stones,  in  running  brooks,  in  spin- 
ning tops,  music  in  mountains  and  mice,  in  animals 
and  men,  and,  best  of  all,  in  boys  and  girls — music 
everywhere.  The  world  is  full  of  music  that  came 
from  heaven.  When  you  came  into  the  world,  voice 
culture  was  your  first  music  lesson.  You  worked 
overtime  and  woke  up  at  night  to  practise.  Your  cry 
was  not  very  musical,  but  it  was  the  best  you  could 
do  at  that  age.  Now  you  can  do  better,  and  you 
should  do  your  best.  Every  boy  and  girl  should  take 
music  lessons.  God  put  a  song  in  your  heart  and  you 
should  learn  to  sing  it.  I  heard  Doctor  Talmage 
say,  that  any  one  that  can  sing  and  won't  sing,  should 
be  sent  to  Sing  Sing. 

26 


MUSIC  LESSONS 

In  your  soul  there  are  eight  sweet  voices.  One  is 
a  solo  voice,  and  seven  are  chorus  voices.  One  sings 
and  the  others  join  in  the  chorus.  In  our  text  the 
little  word  "add"  means  to  chorus.  What  Peter 
really  said  was:  "Chorus  to  your  faith  virtue;  and 
to  virtue  knowledge;  and  to  knowledge  temperance; 
and  to  temperance  patience;  and  to  patience  godli- 
ness; and  to  godliness  brotherly  kindness;  and  to 
brotherly  kindness  charity."  You  have  eight  sweet 
singers  in  your  heart.  Faith  is  the  leader,  and  you 
should  train  the  other  seven  to  join  in  the  chorus. 
Faith  is  trust  in  God.  If  your  soul  is  sad,  faith 
sings.  When  the  meadow  is  damp  and  cold,  the  lark 
rises  above  the  fog  into  the  sunshine  and  sings.  When 
your  soul  is  cold  and  dreary,  your  faith,  hke  the  lark, 
rises  above  your  sorrows  and  sings.  Do  you  want 
to  know  about  the  other  voices  that  are  to  sing  in  the 
chorus  ? 

The  first  one  is  virtue.  Virtue  means  strength  and 
courage.  The  next  one  is  knowledge.  Let  your 
knowledge,  all  you  know  and  all  you  learn,  join  and 
sing  with  faith.  Temperance  is  the  third  voice — the 
voice  that  can  not  sing  if  you  eat  too  much,  play  too 
much,  dance  too  much,  play  cards  too  often  ;  the  voice 
that  strong  drink  spoils.  The  fourth  voice  is  patience. 

27 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

Impatience  is  patience  out  of  tune.  When  you  feel 
impatient,  stop  and  tune  up.  Tune  patience  to  the 
key-note  of  faith.  Next  comes  a  wonderful  voice, 
godliness — a  voice  like  God's  voice.  This  voice  can 
not  join  in  wicked  songs.  The  sixth  voice  of  the 
chorus  is  brotherly  kindness.  It  is  being  as  nice  to 
your  sister  as  you  are  to  some  other  boy's  sister. 
There  was  a  brother  and  sister  who  loved  each  other 
very  much.  The  brother  was  taken  ill  and  died.  His 
little  sister  held  his  hand  and  kept  saying,  "This 
hand  never  struck  me."  That  was  brotherly  kind- 
ness. The  seventh  and  last  voice  in  the  chorus  is 
charity.  Charity  suffereth  long  and  is  kind,  charity 
is  love.  All  these  singers  are  in  the  music-room  of 
your  soul.  Give  them  music  lessons.  Teach  them  to 
sing  in  chorus. 

Our  story  was  written  by  a  friend  of  yours,  and 
is  about  a  class  of  eight  boys  and  girls  who  took 
lessons  from  Professor  Music.  Miss  Faith  had  a  strong 
soprano  voice.  She  sang  the  solo  parts.  Master  Vir- 
tue, Miss  Knowledge,  Master  Temperance,  Miss  Pa- 
tience, Masters  Godliness  and  Brotherly  Kindness  and 
Miss  Charity  were  in  the  Chorus.  Professor  Music  had 
much  trouble  in  training  them.  Faith  would  get  a 
doubt  in  her  throat  and  could  not  sing.  Virtue  would 

28 


MUSIC  LESSONS 

act  silly.  Knowledge  would  lose  her  lines.  One  night 
Temperance  ate  too  much  and  was  out  till  twelve 
o'clock.  The  next  rehearsal  found  him  dull,  stupid 
ajid  cross.  Patience  would  "flat,"  and  sometimes  lost 
the  key.  Godliness  came  to  the  class  with  a  lie  in 
his  heart,  which  is  worse  than  "a  frog  in  the  throat." 
Brotherly  Kindness  made  sport  of  Miss  Charity's 
"Merry  Widow"  hat;  said  it  was  too  large  for  a 
parasol,  and  not  large  enough  for  an  umbrella.  She 
got  cross  and  would  not  sing.  Poor  Professor  Music ! 
What  a  difficult  task  he  had  of  training  Faith,  and 
of  teaching  all  the  other  children  to  sing  in  the 
chorus.  He  took  them  all  to  the  Junior  Congrega- 
tion on  Sunday  and  found  them  wiser  and  better  on 
Monday.  Week  after  week  he  worked  until  they  all 
sang  like  angels.  Miss  Faith  reached  high  C  without 
a  break,  and  the  "Hallelujah  Chorus"  sounded  like 
the  morning  stars  singing  together.  The  audience 
was  about  to  shout  for  joy  when  Professor  Music 
struck  the  stand  with  his  baton.  He  had  missed  one 
voice.  Miss  Knowledge  thought  that  when  all  were 
singing  so  loud  and  sweet,  her  voice  would  not  be 
missed.  But  each  voice  had  a  place  and  was  needed 
for  a  full  chorus.  Professor  Music  missed  that  one 
voice.     Learn  to  chorus  3^our  faith. 

29 


FOB  FIFTH  SUNDAY  IN  SPRING 
THE  GARDEN  OF  THE  SOUL 

"Their  soul  shall  be  as  a  watered  garden."— /er.  xxxi.,  12 

"fnriHEY  will  need  horses  for  their  Spring  plow- 
X  ing."  In  each  of  these  eight  words  was  a 
handful  of  seeds.  Whenever  the  plow  turned  a  fur- 
row these  seeds  grew  and  blossomed.  Does  this 
sound  like  a  riddle.?  We  shall  try  to  make  it  flow 
through  your  mind  like  a  rill.  At  the  close  of  the 
war,  General  Grant,  the  great  leader  of  the  Northern 
Army,  and  General  Lee,  the  great  leader  of  the 
Southern  Army,  met  on  April  9,  1865,  at  Appo- 
mattox. General  Lee  surrendered  the  Confederate 
Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  about  26,000  soldiers, 
practically  ending  the  Civil  War.  In  a  friendly  and 
brotherly  way  they  brought  the  war  to  a  close. 

General  Lee  was  as  brave  in  defeat  as  he  had  been 
in  victory,  and  was  ready  to  make  a  complete  surren- 
der. General  Grant  was  as  manly  in  victory  as  he 
had  been  in  defeat,  and  was  ready  to  accept  surrender 
as  a  brother.  To  General  Lee  he  said :  "Your  soldiers 
are  mainly  small  farmers.  They  will  need  horses  for 
their   Spring   plowing.      Let   them   keep   them   and 

30 


THE  GARDEN  OF  THE  SOUL 

ride  home  to  their  farms."  So  the  boys  in  gray, 
on  horseback,  returned  to  the  beautiful  Southland, 
and  the  boys  in  blue  hurried  back  to  their  homes  in  the 
North.  Many  of  the  boys  in  gray  began  to  plow 
and  to  get  ready  for  the  coming  harvest.  If  a  gun 
were  fired  near  the  field,  the  old  war  horses  would 
throw  up  their  heads  and  start  to  run.  They  forgot 
that  the  plow  was  not  made  for  a  row.  The  farmer 
would  say,  "Whoa!  whoa!  You  old  fighters,  don't 
you  know  the  war  at  last  is  past?"  Then  he  would 
talk,  half  to  the  horses  and  half  to  himself,  of  the 
battles,  lost  and  won,  and  of  loved  ones  in  unmarked, 
unknown  graves.  The  farmer  would  often  repeat 
Grant's  words :  "They  will  need  horses  for  the  Spring 
plowing."  Each  word  had  seeds  of  kindness  that 
dropt  with  the  farmer's  tears  into  the  furrow  back 
of  the  plow. 

Flowers  of  sympathy,  flowers  of  kindness,  flowers 
of  love !  You  can  not  see  them,  but  they  are  bloom- 
ing everywhere,  in  the  North  and  in  the  South,  in 
the  minds  and  in  the  hearts  of  all  good  citizens. 
Blooming  in  the  garden  of  the  soul.  The  graves  of 
brave  soldiers  are  being  covered  with  flowers.  The 
bright  and  fragrant  flowers  that  we  see  represent 
the  heart  flowers  we  can  not  see. 

31 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

In  a  few  years,  on  Memorial  day,  you  boys  and 
girls  must  scatter  the  flowers.  The  florist  will  furnish 
the  flowers  you  can  see,  but  in  your  hearts  must  be 
cultivated  the  flowers  of  sympathy,  kindness  and  love 
that  you  can  not  see.  A  little  girl  was  asked  how  she 
raised  such  a  beautiful  flower.  She  said,  "I  loved  it 
a  little,  coaxed  it  a  little,  and  pushed  it  a  little." 
The  boys  and  girls  in  the  North  and  South  should 
plant  flowers  of  sympathy,  kindness  and  love  in  the 
garden  of  their  soul,  and  should  "love  them  a  little, 
coax  them  a  httle,  and  push  them  a  little."  Then 
they  can  meet  on  future  Memorial  days  and  cover 
the  soldiers'  graves  with  flowers  invisible  on  earth, 
but  visible  in  heaven.  Flowers  the  angels  can  see 
and  over  which  God  will  pronounce  a  benediction  of 
peace.  Plant  flowers  of  sympathy,  kindness  and 
love  in  the  garden  of  your  soul. 

Little  Mabel  dropt  a  few  flower-seeds  into  a  box 
filled  with  earth,  and  placed  the  box  on  the  window- 
sill.  The  sun  loved  the  seeds  a  little,  coaxed  them  a 
little,  and  something  inside  the  seeds  pushed  them  a 
little.  In  a  few  days  little  leaves  began  to  peep  up 
to  see  what  it  all  meant.  They  enjoyed  the  sun- 
shine and  air  so  well  that  in  a  few  weeks  they  were 
big    and    strong.      Then    came   buds    and   beautiful 


THE  GARDEN  OF  THE  SOUL 

flowers,  and  a  fragrance  that  filled  the  room.  Each 
day  Mabel  would  carry  the  box  into  a  little  back 
room  and  leave  it  for  an  hour  with  an  invalid  child. 
Sometimes  she  would  take  a  flower  to  an  old  lady 
over  the  way.  Mabel's  mother  told  her  that  every 
heart  was  a  little  box  filled  with  "Garden  of  Eden" 
earth.  Then  Mabel  began  to  drop  kind  words  into 
every  heart  and  watched  them  grow.  Mother  told 
her  to  love  them  a  little,  coax  them  a  little,  and  push 
them  a  little.  Soon  she  saw  with  great  delight 
the  buds  and  flowers  of  love,  bright  faces,  smiles  and 
thanks.  She  planted  seeds  in  the  garden  of  her  soul. 
I  have  a  story  for  you.  It  was  a  cold,  stormy 
Sunday  morning  in  the  early  Spring  of  1909.  Your 
pastor  was  working  on  the  Junior  sermon  when  the 
door-bell  rang.  A  special-delivery  package  was  put 
on  his  desk,  close  to  the  manuscript  of  the  Junior 
sermon.  What  was  it?  Off*  came  the  string,  the 
wrapper  and  the  lid.  What  did  he  find?  Flowers, 
sweet,  fragrant  flowers !  Where  could  they  have 
come  from?  In  the  corner  of  the  box  was  a  letter 
from  a  Httle  girl  in  the  South  to  your  pastor  in  the 
North.  From  a  sweet  little  friend  of  his,  who  reads 
the  Junior  sermon  every  week.  When  our  gardens 
here  in  the  North  were  frozen  and  the  air  was  full 

33 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

of  snow,  she,  of  the  sunny  South,  where  the  birds 
were  singing,  had  gathered  these  flowers  from  her 
garden  and  sent  them  to  your  pastor.  When  he 
came  to  church  the  storm  was  left  outside  and  your 
sermon  was  full  of  flowers.  The  beautiful  flowers 
were  temporal  and  in  a  few  days  faded  and  died. 

But,  in  Marguerite's  heart  the  flowers  of  sympa- 
thy, kindness  and  love  do  not  fade,  will  not  die.  I 
am  glad  my  little  friend  did  not  wait  in  order  to  send 
the  flowers  for  my  grave.  I  enjoyed  them  so  i^xuch 
better  on  my  desk. 

Some  of  the  brave  and  bullet-scarred  soldiers  are 
still  living  in  the  North  and  in  the  South.  A  few 
flowers  given  to  them  now  will  be  enjoyed  much  bet- 
ter than  wreaths  of  flowers  placed  some  day  on  their 
graves.  Only  a  few  more  years  must  pass  before 
we  of  the  North  and  South  will  meet  on  the  same 
Memorial  day,  and  together  decorate  all  the  graves 
because  the  men  were  brave.  Let  us  be  patient  while 
we  wait. 

Plant  patience  in  the  garden  of  thy  soul. 

The  roots  are  bitter,  but  the  fruits  are  sweet, 

And  when  at  last,  it  grows  a  tree  complete. 
Beneath  its  spreading  shade  the  burning  heat 

And  burden  of  the  war  shall  lose  control. 
Plant  patience  in  the  garden  of  thy  soul. 
34 


FOR  SIXTH  SUNDAY  IN  SPRING 
GRANDPA'S  DREAM 

"The  voice  of  the  bird." — Eccl.  xii.,  4 

IF  birds  could  talk  we  would  not  walk;  we  would 
run.  How  frightened  we  would  be  if  a  bird  cried 
out  from  a  tree :  "Do  not  throw  stones  at  me."  "Take 
my  feather  off  your  hat."  This  is  a  short  sermon, 
but  before  you  go  may  I  tell  you  a  story  of  a  long, 
long  time  ago.? 

A  man  had  a  beautiful  garden,  and  he  was  in  the 
habit  of  rising  early  in  the  morning  to  watch  the 
flowers  grow  and  the  buds  blossom;  to  hear  the 
birds  sing  and  the  church-bells  ring.  One  day  he 
noticed  that  some  flower  beds  were  damaged,  and 
each  day  the  rose-bushes  were  broken.  He  hid  him- 
self behind  the  hedge  and  saw  a  little  bird,  no  larger 
than  a  sparrow,  pick  at  the  leaves  of  the  flowers  until 
the  petals  fell  off  one  by  one.  He  set  a  trap  and 
caught  the  bird.  The  man  was  very  angry  and  was 
about  to  wring  the  little  bird's  neck  when,  to  his 
amazement,  the  bird  opened  its  mouth  and  began 
to  plead  for  its  life. 

35 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

"Do  not  kill  me,  please,  of  what  use  would  my 
death  be  to  you?  I  am  only  a  little  bird,  and  you 
are  a  big  man.  There  is  not  even  enough  of  me  to 
satisfy  your  hunger.  Please  be  kind  to  me.  If  you 
will  spare  my  life  I  will  teach  you  three  wonderful 
truths,  which  will  prove  very  helpful  to  you."  The 
man  was  so  surprized  that  he  released  the  bird  and 
started  to  run.  The  bird  cried,  "Come  back,  come 
back,  I  am  not  large  enough  to  hurt  you."  He  turned 
back  and  asked  the  bird  to  tell  him  the  three  great 
truths.  The  little  bird  flew  to  a  higher  limb  and  then 
said:  "The  first  truth  is,  do  not  be  unhappy  over 
anything  you  have  lost  that  can  not  be  recalled.  For 
example,  do  not  cry  over  spilled  milk.  The  pitcher  is 
broken,  the  milk  is  gone.  It  is  fooHsh  to  cry  over 
what  you  can  not  get  back.  Second,  do  not  covet  or 
try  to  obtain  what  you  can  not  reach.  For  example, 
if  an  apple  on  the  lower  branch  is  as  good  as  one  on 
the  top  branch,  why  leave  the  lower  one  and  covet 
the  one  you  can  not  reach?  Do  not  covet  what  you 
can  not  reach.  Third,  do  not  believe  what  is  impossi- 
ble, for  it  makes  you  seem  like  a  foolish  man.  If  you 
believe  things  that  are  impossible,  even  the  little  chil- 
dren will  laugh  at  you.  Remember  these  three  truths, 
for  you  will  need  them."     The  little  bird  flew  to  a 


GRANDPA'S  DREAM 

still  higher  limb  and  then  began  to  laugh  loud  and 
long.    The  man  asked :  "Why  are  you  so  merry  ?" 

"Oh,  you  fooHsh  man,"  said  the  bird.  "Do  you 
know  what  you  have  lost.?  Had  you  killed  me  you 
would  have  found  in  me  a  pearl  as  large  as  a  goose- 
egg,  and  you  could  have  lived  in  comfort  the  rest  of 
your  days." 

When  the  man  heard  this  he  tried  to  coax  the  bird 
back.  He  extended  his  hand  and  said :  "Come  to  me, 
little  bird,  come ;  I'll  take  good  care  of  you,  you  will 
be  as  dear  to  me  as  a  child.  I  shall  make  you  very 
happy." 

The  bird  only  laughed  the  louder  and  said :  ^'How 
foolish  of  you  to  forget  the  three  truths  so  soon.  I 
told  you  not  to  be  unhappy  over  anything  you  have 
lost  that  can  not  be  recalled.  You  have  lost  me. 
You  are  now  trying  to  get  me  back.  You  are  un- 
happy because  I  can  not  be  recalled.  I  saw  you 
angry;  never  again  can  you  catch  me.  You  do  not 
have  wings,  I  have — ha !  ha !  Why  do  you  pray  for 
happiness  and  then  make  yourself  unhappy?  The 
second  thing  I  told  you  was  not  to  covet  nor  try 
to  obtain  what  you  can  not  reach.  I  am  beyond  your 
reach,  but  still  can  preach.  Listen  to  my  Junior 
sermon  and  do  not  covet  what  you  can  not  reach. 

37 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

This  I  preach  and  teach.  The  third  thing  I  told  you 
was  not  to  believe  what  is  impossible.  Now  you  be- 
lieve I  have  in  my  body  a  pearl  the  size  of  a  goose- 
egg,  when,  Lo !  my  whole  body  is  not  as  large  as  a 
goose-egg.  You  are  not  a  good  pupil,  you  forget  as 
soon  as  you  hear.  I  am  afraid  you  could  not  pass 
a  good  mid-term  examination.  You  are  too  old  to 
learn.  Go  home  and  teach  these  three  truths  to  your 
grandchildren.  They  are  young  and  can  remember. 
They  have  a  long  time  to  live,  a  long  time  to  be 
happy." 

The  httle  bird  flew  away  and  everything  faded 
away  from  the  man.  He  faded  away  from  himself. 
The  next  thing  he  knew  some  one  was  leading  him 
out  of  the  darkness.  When  he  opened  his  eyes  there 
were  the  grandchildren  ready  for  a  morning  romp. 
At  the  breakfast  table  he  told  them  his  dream  about 
the  little  bird  in  the  garden.  A  dream,  a  dream,  a 
dream,  but  out  of  the  dream  three  truths.  The 
grandchildren  never  forgot  the  three  truths  in 
Grandpa's  dream.  These  three  truths  made  them 
happy  all  their  days. 


38 


I 


FOR  SEVENTH  SUNDAY  IN  SPRING 

SENTIMENT 

"Why  was  this  waste?" — Mark  xiv.,  4 

HEAR  some  one  asking  "What  is  sentiment  ?"  It 
is  something  that  comes  when  you  are  not  looking 
for  it.  It  comes  from  your  heart.  Let  us  take  an 
example.  As  you  walk  along  the  street  you  see  a 
man  whipping  a  boy.  This  makes  you  think.  If 
you  hold  the  "think"  in  your  brain  it  will  keep  cool 
and  you  will  be  able  to  reason  about  it.  You  will 
say,  probably  the  boy  was  bad  and  needed  a  whip- 
ping. You  can  put  the  thought  in  cold  storage ;  that 
is,  in  your  brain,  and  pass  on.  But  if  you  let  the 
thought  get  into  your  heart,  warm  storage,  you  will 
begin  to  be  sorry  for  the  boy.  A  tear  will  come 
into  your  eye,  and  you  will  go  up  and  ask  the  man 
not  to  whip  the  boy.  "Please,  mister,  give  him  an- 
other chance."  The  feeling  that  made  you  sorry  for 
the  boy  is  what  we  call  "sentiment."  It  is  a  cold 
thought  from  your  brain  warmed  up  in  your  heart. 
You  should  think,  and  think  hard.    Make  your  brain 

39 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

work.  But  you  have  a  heart  as  well  as  a  brain,  and 
through  your  heart  you  should  pass  all  your  think- 
ing. The  warm  heart  will  soften  the  edges  of  your 
thought  and  give  you  some  "sentiment." 

There  are  some  people  who  think  they  should  obey 
what  the  brain  says  and  not  listen  to  the  heart.  I 
heard  of  a  boy  who  decided  that  he  would  only  put 
"think"  through  his  brain,  and  not  through  his  heart. 
He  was  determined  to  be  guided  by  reason  alone,  and 
not  by  any  sentim.ent.  One  day  he  did  something 
that  was  wrong  and  that  made  his  mother  cry.  He 
took  one  of  her  tears  to  his  chemistry  teacher  and 
asked  him  to  analyze  it.  The  teacher  told  him  this 
tear  was  composed  of  phosphate  of  Hme  and  soda. 
The  boy  went  home  and  told  his  mother  that  when 
she  cried  she  was  wasting  her  lime  and  soda.  He  did 
not  have  any  "sentiment."  Another  boy  saw  his 
mother  crying  and  the  tear  on  her  cheek  not  only 
went  through  his  brain,  but  he  let  it  go  through  his 
heart.  His  heart  told  him  that  the  mother's  tear 
was  composed  of  love  and  sympathy.  Putting  his 
arms  about  his  mother's  neck,  he  said:  "Mother,  I 
am  sorry  to  vex  you,  I  shall  be  a  good  boy  and  not 
make  you  cry  again."  One  boy  used  his  brain,  but 
not  his  heart.     The  other  boy  used  brain  and  heart. 

40 


SENTIMENT 

Which  of  the  boys  do  you  Hke  better?  I  am  sure 
that  you  hke  better  the  boy  who  let  his  thought  pass 
through  his  heart,  and  whose  sentiment  prompted  him 
to  be  kind  to  his  mother. 

When  Christ  was  visiting  in  Bethany  a  woman 
broke  a  box  of  precious  ointment  and  poured  it  on 
His  head.  Her  thought  about  Christ  was  not  in  her 
brain  only,  but  also  in  her  heart.  Those  who  had 
no  sentiment  said,  "Why  was  this  waste?"  They  did 
not  let  the  thought  into  their  hearts.  She  was  pour- 
ing out  her  love,  but  all  they  saw  was  the  ointment. 
Cold  brain  said  she  was  wasting  the  ointment.  The 
broken  box  became  her  monument.  Christ  said  where- 
soever His  gospel  is  preached  in  all  the  world,  this 
story  shall  be  told. 

I  want  my  Juniors  to  think  about  Christ.  "What 
think  ye  of  Christ  ?"  But  do  not  forget  to  hold  your 
"think"  in  your  heart  until  there  is  a  tear  in  your 
eye.  Your  brain  will  tell  you  that  Christ  is  the  great- 
est man  who  ever  lived.  Your  heart  will  tell  you 
to  love  Him  as  your  best  friend  and  Savior.  Love 
is  a  great  sentiment.  Do  not  forget  that  there  is 
plenty  of  room  in  your  brain  and  heart  for  both  rea- 
son and  sentiment.  Napoleon  had  a  big  brain  and 
could  reason  out  great  problems.    He  also  had  a  big 

41 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

heart,  and  had  room  for  sentiment.  One  day  when 
marching  rapidly  to  a  great  battle,  he  stopt  to  turn 
over  a  turtle  that  was  struggling  on  its  back.  That 
was  a  good  "sentiment." 

The  woman  who  poured  the  ointment  on  Christ's 
head  got  a  great  reward.  But  she  was  not  expecting 
any  reward.  I  read  in  the  Christian  Herald  of  a 
girl  who  got  a  reward  for  sentiment.  This  young 
girl  had  nursed  an  aged  relative  who  was  neglected 
by  her  other  relatives.  When  the  woman  died  she  left 
some  money  and  an  old  watch.  This  watch  was  to  be 
given  to  whichever  one  of  the  heirs  might  choose  to 
take  it  instead  of  five  hundred  dollars.  One  after 
another  examined  it,  and  said: 

"Give  me  the  five  hundred  dollars,  the  old  watch 
rattles  but  will  not  tick." 

But  the  girl  who  had  nursed  the  old  lady  said  she 
would  take  the  watch  because  it  had  her  friend's 
picture  in  it.  She  was  ridiculed  for  her  sentiment, 
which  the  other  relatives  called  foolishness.  But  she 
got  an  unexpected  reward  for  her  sentiment.  One 
day,  when  looking  at  the  picture,  she  accidentally 
touched  a  secret  spring  in  the  watch.  It  flew  open 
and  she  saw  why  the  watch  would  not  tick.  The 
wheels  had  all  been  taken  out.    What  do  you  suppose 


SENTIMENT 

they  had  heard  rattling  in  the  watch?  Not  loose 
wheels,  but  beautiful  diamonds  worth  thousands  of 
dollars.  Each  stone  in  the  watch  looked  like  a  big 
tear  molded  by  sympathy  into  a  precious  diamond. 
Her  sacrifice  and  love  were  not  wasted. 


FOB  EIGHTH  SUNDAY  IN  SPRING 
APPLE-BLOSSOM  SUNDAY 

"I  raised  thee  up  under  the  apple-tree." — Solomon's  Song  viii.,  5 

THE  apple-trees  are  in  bloom.  I  hope  you  chil- 
dren are  all  enjoying  this  beautiful  world  and 
its  apple-blossoms.  There  are  many  delightful  days 
and  weeks  and  months,  and  as  visitors  to  this  planet 
you  can  be  very  happy.  If  you  had  known  you  were 
coming,  what  would  you  have  brought  with  you  ?  God 
knew  you  were  on  the  way  and  He  sent  with  you  the 
three  things  you  need  most  for  a  happy  visit.  First, 
a  portable  house,  called  a  body,  in  which  to  live.  Sec- 
ond, an  intellect  to  help  you  to  enjoy  the  world  and 
the  people  you  are  visiting.  This  intellect  is  very 
busy  gathering  a  library  in  the  memory  room,  hang- 
ing pictures  on  the  wall,  teaching  you  how  to  use  the 
tools  in  your  workshop,  and  doing  a  thousand  other 
things.  Third,  a  spirit  that  keeps  you  from  get- 
ting lost  in  this  world.  The  spirit  tells  you  not  to 
forget  yourself  in  this  world;  you  are  only  visitors. 
It  tells  you  of  the  beautiful  world  and  home  to  which 
you  are  to  return  after  your  visit  here.    A  spirit  into 

44 


APPLE-BLOSSOM  SUNDAY 

which  you  go  and  close  the  door  when  you  talk  with 
your  Father  in  heaven. 

Had  you  known  you  were  coming,  what  else  would 
you  have  brought  ?  A  small  boy  said,  after  his  mother 
had  punished  him,  "If  I  had  been  given  the  choice 
of  a  mother,  I  would  have  taken  grandma,  she  is  so 
good  to  me."  Wliat  would  have  been  your  choice 
of  a  birthplace  ?  Our  text  tells  of  the  beautiful  birth- 
place of  a  little  girl.  "I  raised  thee  up  under  the 
apple-tree."  It  is  a  wonderful  song-story.  The  little 
girl  had  grown  up  and  with  her  husband  had  gone 
back  as  bride  and  groom  to  the  old  home.  He  pointed 
to  the  apple-tree  where  she  was  born — the  same 
apple-tree  under  whose  shade  they  had  often  sat,  and 
where  he  had  told  her  of  his  love  for  her.  Do  you 
►  wish  you  had  been  born  under  an  apple-tree.?  You 
can  if  you  will.  The  Bible  says  you  must  be  born 
again,  born  a  second  time.  You  can  select  your 
second  birthplace.  There  is  a  spiritual  world  right 
here  under  the  apple-blossoms,  and  wherever  God  is, 
into  which  you  can  be  born.  The  Bible  says  Christ 
is  like  an  apple-tree.  "As  the  apple-tree  among  the 
trees  of  the  wood,  so  is  my  beloved  among  the  sons." 
As  a  child  of  God  you  are  born  again,  born  in  the 
likeness  of  Christ,  born  under  the  apple-tree.     Pos- 

45 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

sibly,  when  the  visit  is  ended  and  you  return  to  your 
home  in  heaven,  you  will  sit  down  under  the  shade  of 
a  tree  by  the  river  of  life  and  talk  to  Christ  about  His 
love.  I  hope  the  tree  of  life  in  Paradise  will  be  like 
an  apple-tree  in  blossom. 

Apple-blossoms  are  beautiful,  but  there  is  some- 
thing more  useful  to  follow.  After  the  blossoms 
come  the  apples.  Apples  are  blossoms  filled  with 
fragrance,  sunshine,  colors  from  the  rainbow  and 
nectar.  In  Europe,  before  our  ancestors  became 
Christians,  it  was  the  custom  when  a  child  died  to 
put  an  apple  in  his  hand  with  which  to  play  in  Para- 
dise. There  is  a  legend  that  represents  the  angel  of 
death,  whose  duty  it  is  to  separate  the  souls  from 
the  bodies  of  those  who  are  dying,  holding  an  apple 
close  to  the  one  who  is  about  to  depart  from  life,  so 
that  the  first  thing  the  spirit  will  see  in  the  new  world 
will  be  a  beautiful  apple.  "As  the  apple-tree  among 
the  trees  of  the  wood,  so  is  my  beloved  among  the 
sons."  We  as  Christians  expect  to  see  Christ  first  in 
heaven. 

It  is  time  to  close,  but  I  must  give  you  two  minutes 
in  order  to  hear  a  quaint  apple  story.  If  your 
father  and  mother  came  from  the  country  they  will 
tell  you  how,  as  children,  they  played  under  the  apple- 

46 


APPLE-BLOSSOM  SUNDAY 

trees.  Children  play  in  the  orchard  and  put  sticks 
for  legs  in  big  apples  and  set  them  up  as  animals. 
With  a  little  imagination  added  to  the  apples  and 
sticks  they  soon  have  a  menagerie.  This  quaint  play 
has  an  interesting  origin.  In  early  days,  the  people 
of  Athens  had  a  place  for  worship  just  across  the 
river  Esopus.  They  took  sheep  across  the  river  as 
a  sacrifice  to  their  gods.  There  came  a  very  heavy 
storm  and  the  river  was  so  swollen  that  the  worship- 
ers could  not  take  the  sheep  across.  Some  one  re- 
called that  the  Greek  words  for  sheep  and  for  apples 
were  the  same.  They  then  put  wooden  legs  on  the 
apples  and  offered  them  as  a  sacrifice.  They  used 
the  same  word  and  believed  their  gods  would  not 
know  the  difference.  Once  a  year  they  put  apples 
on  legs  and  sacrificed  them  in  commemoration  of 
this  occasion.  Children  playing  under  the  apple- 
trees  are  still  commemorating  the  old  Greek  sacrifice. 
Christ  is  compared  to  an  apple-tree,  He  is  so 
beautiful.  But  we  must  not  put  these  apple-blossoms, 
with  which  our  church  is  decorated  to-day,  in  place 
of  Christ.  We  do  not  worship  apple-blossoms,  but 
we  use  them  and  enjoy  their  great  beauty  as  a  re- 
minder of  Christ,  and  of  how  we  can  be  born  under 
the  beauty  of  His  love. 

47 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

After  your  apple-blossom  service  take  these  flow- 
ers to  the  sick,  take  armfuls  of  them  to  the  chil- 
dren's ward  in  the  hospital.  Tell  them  the  Bible 
stories. 

But  you  can  not  tell  what  you  do  not  know.  Be- 
gin to-day  and  read  and  commit  everything  you  can 
find  about  apples.  Ask  friends  to  help  you  to  find 
the  places.  In  your  Bible  you  will  find  the  apples 
spoken  of  eleven  times.  In  one  of  these  you  will 
learn  how  beautiful  your  words  can  be  made.  "A 
word  fitly  spoken  is  hke  apples  of  gold  in  pictures 
of  silver." 


48 


FOB  NINTH  SUNDAY  IN  SPRING 
"WHY?" 

"The  sparrow  has  found  an  house,  and  the  swallow  a  nest  for 

herself,  where  she  may  lay  her  young,  even  Thy  altars." — 

Psalm  Ixxxiv.,  3 

GOD  sent  children  into  this  world  to  ask  ques- 
tions. In  this  way  they  educate  their  parents 
and  friends.  If  any  person  attempts  to  answer  a 
child's  questions  for  one  year  he  will  receive  a  liberal 
education.  I  am  sure  my  Juniors  want  to  ask  me 
a  question.  I  am  ready,  but  do  not  make  the  ques- 
tion too  hard.  Why  did  sparrows  and  swallows 
build  their  nests  in  the  church  ?  I  will  tell  you  a  story 
while  I  am  trying  to  answer  your  question. 

One  morning  at  family  prayers,  Uncle  Jim  was 
reading  the  eighty-fourth  Psalm.  Little  Dickie,  who 
was  nestling  on  his  uncle's  knee,  said:  "Uncle  Jim, 
why  did  the  sparrow  and  the  swallow  build  their  nests 
in  the  church?"  His  uncle  wanted  a  little  time  to 
think,  so  he  asked  Edie.  She  thought  it  was  because 
the  mother  bird  wanted  her  children  on  Sunday,  to 
hear  the  Junior  sermon  and  the  good  music.     Annie, 

49 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

the  older  sister,  said:  "I  know,  Uncle  Jim.  They 
heard  the  minister  say  that  parents  should  bring 
their  little  children  to  church,  so  the  birds  brought 
their  children  to  church  in  a  cradle." 

"Cradle.?"  said  Uncle  Jim. 

"Yes,  Uncle  Jim,  didn't  you  know  an  egg  is  the 
baby  bird's  cradle?  Once  I  saw  a  little  bird  in  the 
shell  and  it  was  folded  up  and  sound  asleep  with  its 
head,  I  think,  under  its  wing.  I  once  heard  papa 
say,  'The  church  is  a  home  for  parents  and  a  nest 
for  their  children.'  " 

Uncle  Jim  was  smiling  and  all  the  children  said: 
"Uncle  Jim,  do  tell  us  why."  Their  uncle  asked 
them  to  listen  to  a  story  in  which  they  were  to  find 
an  answer  to  their  "Why.?" 

"Not  long  ago,  when  I  was  a  little  boy,  my  father 
took  me  to  a  shipyard  where  they  were  building  a 
ship  named  Robin.  Can  you  guess  why  she  was 
named  for  a  bird.?" 

Dickie  said  they  called  her  Robin  so  she  could  fly 
through  the  water. 

Edie  said,  "I  know,  because  we  all  love  the  robin 
redbreast  so." 

Annie  said,  "I  think  the  ship-builder  had  read  the 
legend  that  when  Jesus  was  being  led  to  Calvary,  a 

50 


"WHY?"' 

bird  flew  down  and  plucked  from  His  brow  one  of 
the  thorns  of  the  crown.  The  blood  spurted  from 
the  wound  and  reddened  the  bird's  breast.  That  is 
why  we  all  love  and  protect  the  robin  redbreast." 

"Not  one  of  you  has  it  right.  I  will  tell  you  the 
story  of  the  robin  ship. 

"While  the  ship  was  being  built  a  bird  began  to 
build  her  nest  in  the  bow.  The  ship-builder  was  a 
good  man  and  did  not  want  to  destroy  the  nest,  so 
he  had  the  men  leave  that  part  of  the  ship  until  the 
little  birds  were  able  to  fly.  There  were  soon  four 
little  robins  who  were  watched  every  day  until  they 
flew  away.  Later  the  papa  and  mama  robins 
came  back  and  again  built  their  nest  on  this  boat. 
Now  why  do  you  suppose  they  built  it  there  ?  They 
had  learned  that  their  little  home  nest  was  pro- 
tected and  that  the  men  were  their  friends." 

Then  all  the  children  cried  out,  "Uncle  Jim!  we 
know  why  the  sparrows  and  the  swallows  built  their 
nests  in  the  church.  Because  good  people  were  in 
the  church  and  would  protect  them." 

Their  uncle  told  them  that  this  was  the  correct 
answer.  God's  house  is  a  house  of  protection  and 
blessing.  If  in  God's  house  there  is  protection  for 
the  sparrow,  the  most  worthless  bird,  and  a  nest  for 

51 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE , 

the  swallow,  the  most  restless  bird,  surely  God  will 
take  good  care  of  His  Juniors.  There  is  a  blessing 
for  every  one  who  dwells  in  the  house  of  God. 
"Blessed  are  they  that  dwell  in  thy  house." 

"What  became  of  the  ship.?"  asked  Dickie. 

"She  sailed  off  across  the  seas,"  replied  Uncle  Jim, 
"and  I  am  sure  she  was  always  a  fortunate  vessel. 
Her  builder  was  called  Uncle  Robin,  and  all  the 
children  loved  him." 

After  Uncle  Jim  read  the  Psalm  they  all  knelt 
and  prayed  for  the  Junior  Congregation,  the  par- 
ents' church  nest  for  their  children. 


FOR  TENTH  SUNDAY  IN  SPRING 
PAINTING   THE   FACE    ON   THE   INSIDE 

"Saw  his  face  as  it  had  been  the  face  of  an  angel." 
— Acts  vi.,  15 

YOUR  face  has  two  sides — the  outside  and  the 
inside.  It  is  like  a  stained-glass  window — 
needs  a  light  inside  to  reveal  its  beauty  outside. 
Education  hghts  your  lamps.  The  school  work 
lights  the  intellect,  the  church  work  lights  the  soul. 
These  lamps  shine  through  what  is  called  character. 
If  the  character  is  beautiful,  the  face  is  beautiful;  if 
the  character  is  not  beautiful,  the  face  is  ugly. 

The  creation  of  man  was  God's  best  and  greatest 
work.  The  face  is  the  most  beautiful  part  of  His 
best  and  greatest  work.  In  an  old  legend  we  read 
that  when  Adam  was  driven  out  of  the  Garden  of 
Eden  he  asked  the  angel  who  kept  the  gate,  "What 
shall  I  bring  back  to  God  when  I  return?"  The 
angel  replied,  "Bring  Him  back  the  face  He  gave  you 
in  the  garden,  and  I  will  let  you  in."  A  child's  face  is 
like  the  face  God  gave  man  in  Eden.     Keep  your 

53 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

lamps  burning  and  jour  face  will  be  your  "pass" 
into  God's  garden. 

Children  of  a  larger  growth  sometimes  paint  their 
faces  on  the  outside.  Their  lamps  need  trimming. 
Stephen's  face  was  painted  on  the  inside.  His  brain 
lamp  and  soul-lamp  were  shining  through  a  beautiful 
character.  Those  who  watched  him  when  he  was 
being  stoned  "saw  his  face  as  it  had  been  the  face  of 
an  angel."  Before  the  beautiful  face  the  gates  of 
heaven  swung  wide  open. 

I  found  a  story  for  you  in  Zion's  H*erald,  Shall  I 
tell  it.? 

"Painting,  are  you.?"  asked  Uncle  Jim.  "Well! 
well !"  and  he  studied  Patty's  rose  and  Betty's  morn- 
ing-glory with  the  eye  of  an  art  student.  "How 
would  you  like  to  paint  bottles  as  the  Chinese  paint 
them.?" 

"Do  tell  us  about  the  bottles,"  shouted  the  twins, 
for  they  hoped  a  story  was  coming. 

"Wait  till  I  go  up  to  my  trunk,"  said  Uncle  Jim. 
And  they  did  wait,  for  so  many  pretty  and  interest- 
ing things  had  come  out  of  Uncle  Jim's  trunk  since 
he  had  been  visiting  them.  He  soon  came  down,  hold- 
ing a  little  bottle  not  more  than  three  inches  long, 
and  its  neck  so  small  you  could  not  possibly  have 

54 


PAINTING  THE  FACE  ON  THE  INSIDE 

thrust  even  a  very  slender  lead-pencil  into  it.  It  was 
painted  beautifully,  too,  the  twins  thought.  On  one 
side  a  Chinese  lady  with  flowing  robes  of  pink  and 
blue  and  green,  carrying  gorgeous  flowers,  and  with 
a  long-legged  bird  nestling  against  her;  and  on  the 
other  side  a  vase  of  cherry-blossoms  and  a  whole 
groiip  of  curious  pieces  of  Chinese  pottery.  Then 
there  were  decorations  in  black  all  around  the  edges 
and  side  of  the  bottle,  a  Chinese  lettering  that  the 
twins  looked  at  with  wonder. 

"And  what  a  lot  of  painting  to  go  on  such  a  little 
bottle !"  exclaimed  Patty. 

"In  the  bottle,"  corrected  Uncle  Jim.  "That  was 
all  painted  on  the  inside  of  the  bottle,  and  I  saw  the 
artist  doing  it  myself." 

"Oh!  oh!"  said  the  twins  together. 

"There  is  just  one  place  in  the  world  where  they 
do  this,"  Uncle  Jim  went  on,  "a  town  in  China  that 
I  visited  to  see  them  work.  The  artists  are  in  a 
room  that  has  no  side  windows  at  all,  but  is  lighted 
by  glass  overhead.  They  lie  on  their  backs,  on  a 
mass  of  green  branches  and  hold  these  little  bottles 
up  against  the  light.  The  glass  has  been  carefully 
ground  inside,  and  they  use  very  slender-pointed 
brushes.    You  can  see  what  a  tiny  opening  the  bottle 

55 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

has.  Think  of  putting  your  brush  through  that  and 
then  managing  to  paint  from  the  inside.  Yes,  the 
bristles  are  curved  a  httle,  or  they  could  not  possibly 
do  it.     Pretty  neat  piece  of  work,  isn't  it.?" 

"Oh,  yes !"  Patty  drew  a  long  breath,  and  Betty 
drew  another.  It  was  all  so  true  and  exact.  Not  a 
sKp  had  the  brush  made.  Patty  and  Betty  are  now 
coaxing  Uncle  Jim  to  get  them  a  tiny  electric-light 
put  inside  the  bottle — they  want  to  see  the  pictures 
at  night  when  they  wake  up  after  a  dream. 

Character  is  painted  best  when  you  are  on  your 
back  looking  up  to  God.  The  best  light  comes  from 
above.  The  brush  is  made  from  your  thoughts,  the 
colors  are  found  in  your  conduct,  and  the  pictures 
are  sketched  by  your  imagination.  The  transparent 
something  upon  which  the  pictures  are  painted  is 
called  character.  The  lamps  back  of  and  shining 
through  character  are  your  intellect  and  your  soul. 

If  the  angel  looked  at  your  face,  would  he  pass 
you  into  the  garden  ? 


56 


FOR  ELEVENTH  SUNDAY  IN  SPRING 
HEAD  AND  HEELS 

**I  thougkt  on  my  ways,  and  turned  my  feet." — Psalm  cxix.,  59 

"X  XE  turned  on  his  heel."  The  boy  was  angry 
JL  X  and  said,  "I  just  turned  on  my  heel  and 
went  out."  His  heel  was  the  turn-table  of  his  body. 
What  part  of  his  body  was  farthest  away  from  his 
heel.?  "His  head,"  you  all  answer.  There  was  some- 
thing in  his  head  that  turned  his  heel.  What  was 
it.?  John  has  the  right  answer ;  it  was  a  thought.  He 
had  an  angry  thought.  This  thought  was  sent  from 
his  brain  and  through  his  muscles  into  his  heel.  On 
his  heel  he  turned  and  went  out  of  the  house. 

His  mother  listened  to  his  story  and  got  the  angry 
thought  out  of  his  mind.  Then  she  put  a  good 
thought  in  its  place.  He  then  turned  on  his  heel, 
went  into  the  house  again,  and  asked  his  father  to 
forgive  him.  The  first  thought  made  him  unhappy 
and  turned  his  feet  in  the  wrong  direction.  The 
second  and  better  thought  made  him  happy  and 
turned  his  feet  in  the  right  direction. 

A  wrong  thought  not  only  starts  you  in  the 
wrong  direction,  but  it  wears  out  the  heels  of  your 

67 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

shoes.  How  can  a  thought  wear  out  the  heels  of 
your  shoes?    By  sending  you  on  a  long  trip. 

A  boy  asked  a  stranger  how  far  it  was  to  the  next 
village.  "If  you  continue  the  way  you  are  going," 
said  the  stranger,  "it  is  about  twenty-five  thousand 
miles ;  but  if  you  turn  around  and  go  the  other  way, 
it  is  only  about  half  a  mile."  A  right  thought  turned 
him  in  the  right  direction.  His  head  saved  his  heels. 
If  you  do  your  work  in  the  wrong  way  you  will  have 
to  take  more  steps.  Each  step  wears  the  heels  of 
your  shoes.  A  story  from  The  Boifs  World  will 
explain  this.  A  boy  had  charge  of  some  cattle. 
There  was  running  water  in  the  next  field,  but  none 
in  the  field  where  the  cattle  were.  A  bright  boy 
passing  the  place  saw  a  young  fellow  carrying  water 
in  buckets  and  pouring  it  into  a  trough.  The  boy 
asked,  "What  are  you  carrying  that  water  for.^*" 

"Got  to  water  my  cattle,  haven't  I.?"  said  the 
young  man. 

"Pretty  hard  work,  isn't  it?" 

"Harder  than  asking  questions,"  he  replied. 

"Well,  why  don't  you  open  the  gate  and  let  the 
cattle  go  to  the  water?"  asked  the  boy.  "It'll  take 
you  all  day  to  water  them  with  those  buckets." 

"Sakes  alive!"  said  the  young  man  smiling,  "I 
58 


HEAD  AND  HEELS 

hadn't  thought  of  that  scheme.  I'll  just  do  it."  He 
had  now  a  new  thought  in  his  head  that  saved  his 
heels,  and  his  shoes.  He  thought  on  his  ways  and 
turned  his  feet. 

Did  I  hear  you  say,  "When  I  am  grown  up  I  am 
going  to  think,  I  am  going  to  think  hard.  The  cob- 
bler will  not  get  rich  mending  my  shoes."  Better  do 
some  thinking  now. 

There  are  many  things  you  can  think  out  when  a 
child  that  you  will  not  have  time  to  think  out  when 
you  are  a  busy  man.  A  little  story  will  explain.  Sir 
Isaac  Newton  had  a  pet  cat.  He  cut  a  hole  in  the 
door  of  his  room  so  that  the  cat  could  come  in  and  go 
out.  One  day  that  cat  came  in  with  two  kittens. 
Sir  Isaac  did  not  take  time  to  think,  so  he  cut  a 
smaller  hole  in  the  door  for  the  kittens.  Any  child 
would  take  time  to  think  that  the  kittens  could  go 
through  the  same  hole  with  their  mother. 

Children  sometimes  think  better  than  men.  A 
boy  saw  a  locomotive  drawing  an  express-train  stop 
near  where  he  was  plowing.  He  left  his  plow  and 
horses,  and,  jumping  over  the  fence,  sat  down  on  the 
bank  and  fanned  his  hot,  freckled  face  with  his 
dilapidated  straw  hat.  He  was  a  Yankee,  and 
"wanted  to  know"  why  the  train  had  stopt.    He  soon 

59 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

found  that  one  of  the  side-rods  of  the  engine  was 
broken  and  that  the  other  side  had  stopt  on  a  "dead 
center,"  and  would  not  move  forward  or  backward. 
The  engineer  and  fireman  consulted,  but  could  not 
think  how  to  start  the  engine.  The  boy  stood  up 
and  waved  his  hat,  shouting,  "Back  the  last  car  up 
the  grade  and  let  her  come  down  kerchunk.  That'll 
start  her." 

The  trainmen  laughed,  but  the  passengers  sided 
with  the  boy.  Finally,  orders  were  given  to  uncouple 
the  rear  car.  No  less  than  fifty  passengers  caught 
hold  and  pushed  the  car  up  the  long  incHne.  At  the 
top  the  car  was  let  go,  and  came  faster  and  faster 
down  the  grade,  in  spite  of  the  engineer's  shouting, 
"Let  her  come  easy!"  the  car  crashed  into  the  train 
with  a  thump  and  pushed  the  engine  off  the  dead 
center.  The  boy  had  the  better  thought.  Juniors 
can  think  twice  while  Seniors  are  getting  ready  to 
think  once. 

Before  God  made  you  He  thought  about  you.  He 
made  your  brain  as  carefully  as  He  made  your  heart. 
If  you  love  God  with  your  heart  you  should  think 
about  Him  with  your  brain.  You  can  make  your 
head  save  not  only  your  heels  but  your  heart  as 
well.    Think!  Think!   Think! 

60 


HEAD  AND  HEELS 

Now  you  understand  the  text,  "I  thought  on  my 
ways,  and  turned  my  feet."  The  man  who  wrote  this 
text  said  he  had  a  wicked  thought  in  his  head  and 
that  thought  started  his  feet  in  the  wrong  direction. 
Then  he  got  a  right  thought  about  God  and  that 
thought  turned  his  feet  in  the  right  direction.  "He 
turned  on  his  heel."  It  is  your  head  that  takes  care 
of  your  heels  and  keeps  your  feet  in  the  right  direc- 
tion. 

If  my  Juniors  are  not  thinking  right  they  are 
walking  in  the  wrong  direction.  Isn't  it  strange  that 
in  the  print  of  your  foot  God  can  read  the  thought 
in  your  head.'* 

Listen,  Juniors,  Longfellow  is  whispering  to  you: 

We  can  make  our  lives  sublime, 
And,  departing,  leave  behind  us 
Footprints  on  the  sands  of  time. 


61 


A 


THE  TWELFTH  SUNDAY  IN  SPRING 
FLAG  DAY 

"Lift  ye  up  a  banner." — Is.  xiii.,  2 

RE  any  of  you  boys  and  girls  ready  and  willing 
to  die?  If  so,  you  have  my  sympathy,  as 
there  is  no  call  for  your  services  at  the  present  time. 
In  1860  there  was  a  call  for  those  who  were  willing 
to  die  for  their  country.  On  Memorial  day  we  deco- 
rate their  graves.  The  call  of  to-day  is  not  for  men, 
women  and  children  who  are  ready  to  die  for,  but 
for  all  who  are  ready  to  live  for,  their  country.  It 
is  more  difficult  to  live  for  a  cause  than  it  is  to  die 
for  it.  You  can  die  in  a  few  moments,  but  it  takes 
a  long  time  to  live  if  you  keep  at  it.  Are  you  boys 
and  girls  ready  to  live  every  hour  and  every  day 
and  every  week  and  every  month  and  every  year  for 
your  country? 

On  Memorial  day  we  had  our  Stars  and  Stripes 
hung  from  every  window  and  unfurled  from  every 
flag  staff.  You  were  called  to  "lift  up  a  banner." 
June  14th  is  Flag  Day,  and  again  we  will  be  called 
to  unfurl  our  national  flag.    Would  not  this  Sunday 

62 


FLAG  DAY 

before  Flag  Day  be  a  good  time  to  celebrate  a  church 
flag  day?  Probably  some  of  you  do  not  know  that 
we  have  a  church  flag.  The  Christian  flag  was  born 
in  Brooklyn,  September  24,  1897.  The  ground  is 
white,  representing  peace,  purity  and  innocence.  In 
the  upper  corner  is  a  blue  square,  the  color  of  the 
unclouded  sky,  emblematic  of  heaven,  the  home  of  the 
Christian ;  also  a  symbol  of  faith  and  trust.  In  the 
center  of  the  blue  is  the  cross,  the  ensign  and  chosen 
symbol  of  Christianity.  The  cross  is  red,  typical  of 
Christ's  blood.  It  is  a  flag  that  every  church  can 
use,  a  flag  under  which  all  Christians  can  march.  Let 
us  lift  up  this  banner  and  under  it  march,  not  as 
boys  and  girls  who  are  willing  to  die  for,  but  as  boys 
and  girls  who  are  willing  to  live  for  their  church. 
To-day  this  Christian  flag  is  lifted  up  over  our  com- 
munion-table. His  banner  over  us  is  love.  If  you 
boys  and  girls  will  march  through  the  world  with 
this  church-banner  and  give  to  the  world  what  is 
represented  on  the  communion-table,  you  will  become 
great  in  the  sight  of  God. 

A  story  known  as  "The  Feast  of  Cherries"  will 
illustrate  what  I  mean. 

The  city  of  Hamburg  was  besieged  and  the  people 
in  the  city  were  very  hungry,  and  the  soldiers  were 

63 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

becoming  too  weak  to  defend  the  walls.  Mr.  Wolff, 
a  wealthy  merchant,  was  returning  to  his  house  one 
morning  after  helping  all  night  to  defend  the  city. 
He  was  very  sad,  for  on  the  morrow  he  knew  that  for 
lack  of  food  they  would  be  forced  to  open  the  gates 
to  the  enemy.  As  he  passed  to  his  house,  through 
his  garden,  he  noticed  that  the  cherries  had  ripened 
and  that  the  limbs  of  many  trees  were  bending  to  the 
ground  with  luscious  fruit.  A  thought  came  to  his 
mind.  The  enemy,  he  knew,  had  plenty  of  food,  but 
were  suffering  from  thirst.  What  would  they  not 
give  for  the  fruit  hanging  on  his  trees  .^^  In  a  few 
moments  his  plans  were  made,  and  he  gathered  to- 
gether three  hundred  small  children,  all  drest  in 
white,  and  loaded  them  with  cherries  on  the  branch. 
The  gates  of  the  city  were  thrown  open  and  the 
children  marched  out  on  their  strange  errand.  A  boy 
and  girl  beautifully  drest  led  the  procession,  carry- 
ing a  white  banner  bearing  a  cross.  This  was  their 
flag  of  truce.  When  the  leader  of  the  enemy  saw 
the  city  gates  open  and  hundreds  of  white-clad  cliil- 
dren  coming  out,  he  thought  it  was  a  trick  by  which 
the  people  were  trying  to  deceive  him.  When  the 
children  came  nearer,  and  he  saw  the  little  ones  so 
pale  and  tliin  from  want  of  food,  he  thought  of  his 

64 


FLAG  DAY 

own  children  at  home,  and  tears  came  to  his  eyes. 
The  three  hundred  children  ran  up  to  the  soldiers 
and  handed  them  the  cherries.  When  the  rough  sol- 
diers tasted  the  cool,  juicy  cherries  and  saw  these 
beautiful,  innocent  children  clothed  in  white,  they 
sent  up  a  cheer  that  was  heard  in  the  city  by  the 
starving  people.  When  the  little  ones  returned  they 
were  accompanied  by  wagons  loaded  with  food.  The 
little  children  had  conquered  the  great  army.  For 
many  years  the  city  of  Hamburg  celebrated  this 
event  and  called  it  "The  Feast  of  Cherries."  Throngs 
of  children  marched  through  the  streets,  each  one 
carrying  a  cherry-tree  branch.  I  hope  they  took  the 
cherries  to  the  homes  of  the  poor  and  to  all  who  were 
sick. 

To-day  we  are  celebrating  the  great  victory  of 
Christ  when  He  suffered  and  died  on  the  cross.  On 
this  communion-table  are  bread  and  wine — the  bread 
representing  Christ's  body,  and  the  wine  representing 
his  blood.  Under  this  Christian  flag,  with  its  blue 
field  and  red  cross,  you  children  can  go  out  and  take 
to  the  hungry  and  thirsty  people  the  Christ  whom 
they  most  need.  You  boys  and  girls  can  conquer 
for  Christ.  I  do  not  want  you  to  be  willing  to  die, 
but  I  want  you  to  be  willing  to  live.     Better  than 

65 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

"The  Feast  of  Cherries"  is  "The  Feast  of  Christ's 
Love." 

Lift  up  a  banner  and  fasten  it  to  the  cross.  Our 
Flag-Day  for  Christ  and  for  the  world ! 

Are  the  members  of  the  Junior  Congregation 
ready  and  wiUing  to  Hve? 


66 


FOR  THIRTEENTH  SUNDAY  IN  SPRING 
INVISIBLE  PRINCE  AND  ROSE   SUNDAY 

"Ask  what  I  shall  give  thee." — //  Chronicles  i.,  7 

IF  I  could  give  you  Juniors  anything  j^ou  ask  for, 
any  one  thing  in  this  world,  what  would  you  love 
most  to  get?  This  question  would  make  you  think 
quick,  and  a  foolish  request  would  almost  make  you 
sick.  One  night,  after  Solomon  came  home  from 
church,  God  said,  "Ask  what  I  shall  give  thee."  That 
was  enough  to  make  Solomon  nervous.  Any  one 
thing  in  all  the  world  he  could  have  for  the  asking. 
What  in  the  world  would  he  select!  Let  us  suppose 
you  are  in  one  of  our  big  department  stores  and  the 
owner  says,  "Good-afternoon ;  I  am  very  glad  to  see 
you  here ;  'ask  what  I  shall  give  you.'  "  Would  that 
make  you  nervous?  Anything  in  that  great  store 
you  could  have  for  the  asking.  Think,  think,  think, 
what  would  you  take?  I  know  what  God  was  afraid 
Solomon  would  ask  for ;  He  was  afraid  he  might  ask 
for  riches.  But  Solomon  proved  that  he  was  a  wise 
man  by  asking  for  wisdom  and  knowledge.  Solomon 
said,  "Give  me  wisdom,  so  that  I  may  be  a  good  king." 

67 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

God  was  pleased  and  told  Solomon  he  made  a  good 
choice,  and  that  He  would  give  him  many  other  gifts 
that  he  did  not  ask  for  as  best  gifts. 

God  does  not  speak  to  you  as  I  do,  but  He  does  in 
some  way  say  to  every  Junior,  "Ask  what  I  shall 
give  thee."  If  you  are  anxious  to  leave  school  and 
to  take  a  position  so  as  to  make  money,  then  you  are 
asking  for  riches.  If  you  are  asking  God  to  help 
you  in  school  work,  so  that  you  may  have  wisdom 
and  knowledge,  then  you  are  making  the  same  choice 
as  Solomon  made.  You  can  have  almost  anything  in 
this  world  by  making  it  your  choice.  You  can  be 
rich  if  you  will  choose  to  give  up  all  other  pleasures, 
working  hard,  and  saving  all  you  make.  You  can 
have  great  wisdom  and  knowledge  if  you  select  them 
as  the  best  things  in  the  world.  Then  you  work 
hard  at  school,  give  up  other  pleasures  that  would 
take  you  away  from  your  books.  God  is  whispering 
to  every  boy  and  girl,  "Ask  what  I  shall  give  thee." 

Have  you  ever  read  the  story  of  the  invisible 
prince?  It  is  just  a  fairy  story,  but  there  is  a  truth 
hid  in  the  story.    Here  it  is : 

"A  young  man  was  in  his  garden  playing  a  flute. 
He  felt  something  coihng  about  his  leg,  and,  on 
looking  down,  saw  that  it  was  an  adder,  a  beautiful 

68 


INVISIBLE  PRINCE  AND  ROSE  SUNDAY 

little  creature.  It  looked  at  him  imploringly  and 
seemed  to  say,  'Please  don't  kill  me?'  The  prince 
carried  it  home  and  placed  it  in  a  room.  A  couple 
of  days  after  he  went  to  the  room  to  look  for  the 
adder  and  found  that  it  had  disappeared,  but  in  the 
room  was  a  beautiful  fairy  named  Gentilla.  She 
wore  a  beautiful  dress  of  purple  satin,  embroidered 
with  pearls  and  diamonds. 

"She  told  the  prince  that  she  had  been  permitted 
to  come  into  the  world  and  to  go  about  doing  good. 
She  said  that  she  could  stay  on  one  condition — that 
every  one  hundred  years  she  would  spend  eight  days 
as  a  serpent.  If  any  one  killed  her  while  in  the  form 
of  a  serpent  she  would  have  to  leave  the  world  for- 
ever. She  thanked  him  for  not  destroying  her,  and 
asked  him  if  she  could  not  do  something  to  repay 
him  for  his  kindness.  'Ask  what  I  shall  give  thee.' 
'What  can  you  give.?'  asked  the  prince.  'I  can  make 
you  great,  prolong  your  life,  give  you  mines  of  dia- 
monds, a  house  filled  with  gold,  make  you  a  poet  or 
a  musician,  or  an  artist,  or  a  spirit  of  the  air.'  The 
prince  chose  the  last,  and  thereafter  became  known 
as  the  'Invisible  Prince.'  He  could  become  invisible 
and  go  any  place  and  get  anything  he  wanted.  Out 
of  all  these  he  chose  to  become  an  invisible  prince. 

69 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

His  wish  was  granted.  He  remembered  once  having 
seen  some  beautiful  roses  blooming  in  a  forest  far 
away.  Immediately  he  was  lost  to  sight.  He  soon 
mounted  into  the  air,  floated  out  of  the  window  and 
on  over  the  forest  stream  and  meadow  land,  until  at 
last  he  came  to  the  spot  where  the  roses  were  bloom- 
ing. He  plucked  three  and  carried  them  back  to  the 
fairy  and  offered  them  to  her.  But  she  said:  'You 
must  keep  them.  The  first  rose  will  give  you  money, 
the  second  will  tell  you  your  true  friends,  for  it  will 
glow  brightly  and  freshen  up  when  placed  near  a 
true  friend,  while  it  will  wither  when  placed  near  a 
false  friend.  The  third  rose  will  give  you  long  life.' 
The  young  prince  was  very  happy.  If  he  needed 
any  money  he  would  look  at  the  rose  and  out  would 
roll  the  cash.  If  any  one  said  he  was  his  friend,  the 
prince  would  pin  the  rose  on  his  coat.  If  he  were  a 
true  friend  the  rose  would  look  fresh  and  would  fill 
the  room  with  fragrance.  If  he  were  not  a  true 
friend  the  rose  would  droop  and  no  fragrance  would 
come  out  of  it.  He  was  never  sick,  for  the  third 
rose  gave  him  health  and  long  life." 

This  is  Rose  Sunday.  If  some  one  should  hand 
you  a  beautiful  rose  and  say:  "Ask  what  I  shall 
give  thee,"  what  would  you  say?     I  am  quite  sure 

70 


INVISIBLE  PRINCE  AND  ROSE  SUNDAY 

many  of  you  would  say,  "I  want  to  be  an  invisible 
prince  or  princess."  Now,  listen  hard,  for  I  have 
something  to  tell  you.  I  can  give  you  a  rose  that 
will  do  most  wonderful  things  for  you.  Like  the 
little  fairy,  you  are  in  this  world  for  a  time  and  are 
living  in  a  body.  If  you  do  what  is  right  and  do  not 
permit  any  sin  to  kill  you,  there  is  some  great  re- 
ward for  you.  When  I  promise  you  a  wonderful 
rose,  I  mean  a  wonderful  man  who  is  called  the  "Rose 
of  Sharon."  Your  answer  is  correct.  "The  Rose  of 
Sharon  is  Christ."  When  Christ  rose  from  the 
tomb,  He  was  the  great  Invisible  Prince.  He  could 
step  into  a  house  when  all  the  doors  were  shut,  and 
He  could  think  a  hundred  miles  away,  and  while  He 
was  thinking  He  was  there.  One  day,  when  He  was 
ready  to  go  back  home  to  heaven.  He  just  ascended 
and  was  at  home.  If  we  love  Christ  and  live  as  He 
tells  us  to  live,  then  some  day  we  shall  throw  off  this 
body,  rise  from  the  grave,  and  become  the  invisible 
prince  or  princess.  Christ  will  supply  all  our  needs. 
We  will  never  hunger  nor  thirst.  The  Rose  of 
Sharon  will  give  us  everything  we  need. 

Only  good  people  can  be  there.  If  a  bad  person 
stood  beside  the  Rose  of  Sharon  this  bad  person  would 
wilt  and  fade.     But  every  good  person  who  stands 

71 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

beside  the  Rose  of  Sharon  will  be  brighter,  sweeter 
and  more  beautiful.  Your  life  will  have  no  end. 
Christ  is  the  Rose  of  Sharon,  the  rose  that  will  make 
you  rich  in  heaven,  that  will  give  you  true  friends 
and  give  you  eternal  life. 


72 


SUMMER 

(June  21-8eptember  20) 

VACATION    SONG 

I  have  closed  mj  books  and  hidden  my  slate, 
And  thrown  my  satchel  across  the  gate. 

My  school  is  out  for  a  season  of  rest, 

And  now  for  the  school-room  I  love  the  best. 

My  school-room  Hes  on  the  meadow  wide,  \ 

Where  under  the  clover  the  sunbeams  hide, 

Where  the  long  vines  cHng  to  the  mossy  bars. 
And  the  daisies  twinkle  like  fallen  stars. 


T3 


FOB  FIRST  SUNDAY  IN  SUMMER 
LOVE  AND  SUNSHINE  COMPANY 

"They  shall  prosper  that  love  thee." — Psalm  cxxii.,  6 

THERE  are  six  words  in  this  text,  but  two 
of  them  are  all  I  ask  you  to  remember.  One 
is  the  word  "love,"  which  you  all  know,  and  that 
leaves  but  one  for  you  to  learn.  This  one  word  has 
seven  letters:  "p-r-o-s-p-e-r."  They  shall  prosper 
that  love  thee.  What  does  prosper  mean  ?  We  think 
of  the  prosperous  person  as  one  who  makes  money; 
but  deep  down  in  the  heart  of  the  word  prosper  we 
find  that  the  meaning  is  not  "to  make  money,"  but 
"to  make  happy."  "They  shall  be  made  happy  that 
love  thee."  This  one  word,  then,  gives  you  the 
meaning  of  the  six  words  in  the  text :  they  shall  pros- 
per, be  made  happy,  that  love  Thee.  Do  we  want  to 
be  happy  ?  We  shall  be  happy  if  we  love  God.  Love 
goes  out  from  us  to  God,  and  comes  back  from  God 
to  us  in  happiness.  One  of  my  friends  visited  Johns- 
town, Pennsylvania,  and  sent  me  a  picture  of  one  of 
the  large  stores  in  that  city.  On  the  top  of  the 
building  is  a  flagstaff,  from  which  floats  the  name 
of  the  firm,  "Love  and  Sunshine  Company,  Whole- 

75 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

sale  Grocers."  I  hope  they  are  prosperous,  and  they 
surely  are,  for  if  love  goes  out  from  them  to  the 
customers,  it  will  come  back  to  them  in  sunshine.  I 
wish  we  had  a  flag  floating  from  this  church  while 
the  Junior  Congregation  is  worshiping.  On  it  we 
would  place  in  big  letters  that  all  could  read,  "Love 
and  Sunshine  Company,  Wholesale  and  Retail  Chris- 
tians." 

You  Juniors  are  interested  to-day  in  what  looks 
like  a  pure  white  flag  spread  over  the  table  before 
you.  I  believe  you  all  know  what  it  means.  This  is 
the  communion-table,  covered  with  pure  white  linen. 
To-day  we  are  to  eat  of  this  bread  and  drink  from 
this  cup  in  memory  of  Christ  who  loved  us  well  enough 
to  die  for  us.  It  was  dark,  very  dark,  when  He  was 
dying,  but  Christians  have  had  sunshine  ever  since. 
Love  broke  up  the  darkness  and  left  in  the  sunshine. 
We  prosper,  are  happy,  because  we  love  Christ.  At 
the  communion-table  our  love  goes  out  to  God,  and 
it  comes  back  to  us  in  happiness  and  sunshine.  I 
want  you  to  think  of  the  church  as  the  "Love  and 
Sunshine  Company,  Wholesale  and  Retail  Christians." 
Now,  some  one  asks,  "How  can  we  learn  to  love 
Christ.?"  A  better  question  is,  "How  can  we  help 
but  love  Christ.?"     Shall  I  tell  you  a  story.? 

76 


LOVE  AND  SUNSHINE  COMPANY 

A  gipsy  girl?  who  lived  the  wild  life  of  her  tribe, 
had  an  intelligent  and  pretty  face.  A  German 
painter  got  her  to  come  to  his  studio  in  order  that 
he  might  paint  her  picture.  I  give  you  the  story 
just  as  I  found  it. 

She  had  never  been  in  an  artist's  studio  before,  and 
did  not  fail  to  notice  on  the  other  side  of  the  room 
an  unfinished  painting  of  the  "Crucifixion  of  our 
Lord."    One  day  she  asked: 

"Master,  who  is  that?" 

"That  is  Jesus  Christ,  son  of  Mary,"  replied  the 
painter  carelessly. 

"But  was  He  a  bad  man,  that  they  treated  Him  so 
cruelly .''" 

"Oh,  no !   He  was  the  best  man  that  ever  lived." 

"Tell  me  more  about  Him."  And  so  he  did,  tho 
unwilling  to  do  so. 

Day  after  day,  as  the  gipsy  girl  came  into  the 
studio  to  have  her  picture  painted,  her  face  was 
fixt  upon  this  painting  of  Christ.  As  the  last  sitting 
was  over,  and  she  was  about  to  leave  the  room,  she 
whispered:  "Master,  how  can  you  help  loving  Him, 
who,  you  say,  has  died  for  you?  If  anybody  had 
loved  me  like  that,  oh,  I'd  like  to  die  for  him !"  And 
then,  with  a  sad  heart,  she  went  back  to  her  people. 

77 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

And  the  painter!  He  was  struck  as  with  an  ar- 
row. God's  spirit  sent  the  words  home  to  his  heart. 
He  fell  on  his  knees,  and,  covering  his  face  with  his 
hands,  confest  before  God's  blest  Son  how  for 
twenty-seven  years  he  had  neglected  Him,  and  sinned 
against  Him,  and  looking  for  pardon  to  that  cross 
of  Jesus,  gave  his  life  to  Him.  His  heart  was  filled 
with  a  new  joy,  and  he  then  became  a  worker  for 
Christ.  He  put  aside  the  half-finished  picture,  in 
which  he  had  thought  only  of  painting  the  suffering 
of  Christ,  and  began  a  fresh  one,  with  his  heart  full 
of  love  toward  the  Savior  who  had  died  for  him. 

As  his  love  went  out  to  Christ,  happiness  and  sun- 
shine came  back  to  him.  He  began  to  prosper  when 
he  began  to  love  Christ,  and  his  paintings  of  the 
gipsy  girl  and  of  his  Christ  are  famous  and  are  in 
the  Diisseldorf  Gallery,  in  Prussia. 

The  gipsy  girl  may  not  have  known  it,  but  she 
was  a  member  of  the  "Love  and  Sunshine  Company." 


FOR  SECOND  SUNDAY  IN  SUMMER 
THE    PATHFINDER 

"Teach  me  thy  paths." — Psalm  xxv.,  4 

WILL  my  Juniors  fix  two  words  in  their  minds ? 
The  first  one  is  "vacation."  It  is  related 
to  the  word  "vacant,"  not  occupied.  "Vacation"  is 
an  intermission.  By  changing  one  letter  in  the  word 
"vacation"  you  will  find  the  second  word  you  are  to 
fix  in  your  minds.  It  is  "vocation."  This  word  has  a 
meaning  very  different  from  "vacation."  "Vacation" 
means  rest,  "vocation"  means  work.  A  vacation  is  a 
rest  after  work ;  a  vocation  is  work  after  rest.  All 
vocation  and  no  vacation  makes  Jack  a  dull  boy.  All 
vacation  and  no  vocation  makes  Jack  a  dumb  boy. 

Each  day  you  have  vacation  hours ;  each  week  you 
have  two  vacation  days — Saturday  and  Sunday.  A 
vacation  at  Christmas,  and  again  at  Easter.  Each 
summer  you  have  two  months'  vacation.  Your  vo- 
cation is  school  work,  and  the  harder  the  vocation 
the  happier  the  vacation.  When  you  start  to  school 
this  week  your  vacation  will  become  a  vocation. 
When  God  created  our  world  He  worked  six  days 

79 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

and  rested  one  day ;  six  days'  vocation  and  one  day 
vacation.  Work  first  and  rest  second;  more  voca- 
tion than  vacation. 

When  God  created  this  world  He  made  paths 
through  it.  Your  vocation  is  to  find  these  paths. 
The  more  paths  you  find  the  happier  will  be  your 
vacation.  Each  path  leads  to  some  great  happiness. 
You  learn  to  read,  and  then  by  reading  good  books 
you  learn  of  God's  paths.  Some  day  you  will  study 
botany.  This  will  be  a  vocation.  When  you  go  into 
the  garden,  your  knowledge  of  flowers  will  lead  you 
along  some  of  God's  most  beautiful  paths.  In  find- 
ing God's  pathway  through  the  flowers  you  will 
learn  the  real  happiness  of  a  vacation.  When  Christ 
was  on  earth  He  led  some  people  through  a  flower- 
bed to  God.  They  were  fretting  about  clothing. 
Probably  they  needed  a  new  suit  of  clothes.  Christ 
told  them  to  look  at  the  lilies,  how  beautiful  they 
were.  Then  He  said  if  God  clothes  the  flowers  so 
beautifully  He  will  surely  clothe  you.  The  story 
you  will  find  in  Luke.  The  age  Christ  was  when  He 
first  went  up  to  Jerusalem  is  the  number  of  the  chap- 
ter. When  you  study  astronomy  you  will  find  God's 
paths  through  the  sky.  "The  heavens  declare  the 
glory  of  God,  and  the  firmament  sheweth  his  handy- 

80 


THE  PATHFINDER 

work."  Some  one  has  said :  "We  see  God  all  around 
us.  The  mountains  are  God's  thoughts  upheaved; 
the  rivers  are  God's  thoughts  in  motion;  the  oceans 
are  God's  thoughts  embedded;  the  dewdrops  are 
God's  thoughts  in  pearls." 

Your  school  work  is  teaching  you  to  read  two 
books  God  has  written  about  His  paths.  One  book 
is  nature,  and  the  other  is  the  Bible.  Read  the  XIX 
Psalm  and  you  will  enjoy  all  it  says  about  these  two 
books. 

Every  morning  when  you  start  to  school  just 
think,  "I  am  learning  God's  paths;  I  am  a  path- 
finder." Here  is  a  school  prayer  for  each  day: 
"Shew  me  thy  ways,  O  Lord,  teach  me  thy  paths." 
You  know  how  a  prayer  should  close,  "For  Christ's 
sake."  Sometimes  the  path  from  you  to  God  is 
through  some  one's  heart.  A  tear  is  one  of  God's 
tiny  electric-lights  showing  the  way. 

A  story  will  help  you  to  find  this  beautiful  path- 
way to  God.  One  morning  a  little  boy  noticed  that 
his  tutor  seemed  very  sad  and  that  there  were  tears 
in  his  eyes.  After  lessons,  the  little  fellow  asked  a 
servant  what  made  his  tutor  so  sad.  The  servant 
said  that  the  tutor  had  a  large  sum  of  money  to  pay 
because  his  bad  son  had  gotten  into  dreadful  debt. 

81 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

The  tutor  was  poor  and  saw  no  way  to  get  money. 
The  next  day,  when  the  royal  family  were  at  break- 
fast, the  little  fellow  said,  "Grandfather,  if  I  write 
well  in  my  copy-book  for  a  whole  week,  will  you  give 
me  something?"  "Yes,"  replied  the  grandfather. 
"Will  you  give  me  ten  pounds  .f^"  "That  is  a  great 
deal  of  money,"  said  the  king.  "What  will  you  do 
with  it.?"  "That  is  my  secret,"  answered  the  boy. 
So  the  king  smiled  at  him  and  promised.  All  the 
morning  the  little  man  worked  faithfully  and  steadily 
on  his  copy-book.  The  birds  sang,  the  tame  pigeons 
came  and  sat  on  the  window-sill,  merry  children 
played  under  the  tree,  but  for  once  he  seemed  neither 
to  see  nor  hear  any  of  them,  but  wrote  a  whole  copy 
without  a  mistake  or  blot.  The  tutor  was  astonished. 
"WHien  his  pupil  kept  up  his  careful  work  for  a  week, 
he  wondered  what  had  happened.  The  boy  did  not 
think  of  anything  but  his  vocation.  He  was  finding 
great  pleasure  in  vocation.  He  was  a  pathfinder. 
At  the  end  of  the  week  he  took  his  copy  to  his  grand- 
father. A  few  minutes  later  he  returned  to  his  tutor 
carrying  in  both  hands  the  bag  containing  ten 
pounds.  His  face  shone  with  smiles,  as  he  lovingly 
gave  the  money  to  his  tutor.  "Here  are  my  wages. 
Please  take  the  money.    I  only  worked  that  I  might 


THE  PATHFINDER 

help  you."  The  tear  of  sorrow  dropt  from  the  tutor's 
cheek.  Then  came  another  tear,  the  big  tear  of  joy. 
The  boy's  heart  was  overflowing  with  happiness.  He 
had  never  known  what  it  was  to  be  so  happy.  He  did 
not  have  one  dull  hour  during  the  day,  and  at  night 
he  dreamed  about  being  happy.  When  he  prayed  he 
said  God  seemed  like  father  and  mother  standing 
beside  him.  His  mother  told  him  that  he  was  happy 
because  he  had  found  a  pathway  to  God  through 
his  tutor's  heart. 

My  Juniors  have  started  to  school,  vocation  has 
come  after  vacation.  Your  pastor  wants  you  to 
study  very,  very  hard.  In  every  subject  he  wants 
you  to  find  a  pathway  to  God,  for  that  is  the  real 
pathway  to  happiness.  Your  vocation  will  teach  you 
how  to  be  happy  during  your  vacation.  How  many 
of  my  boys  and  girls  will  be  pathfinders?  One,  two, 
twenty,  fifty,  one  hundred,  two  hundred !  How  very 
happy  God  will  be  when  on  the  way  He  meets  His 
little  pathfinders!  Tell  Him  that  your  teacher 
helped  you  to  find  the  way. 


I 


FOB  THIRD  SUNDAY  IN  SUMMER 
THE  GOLD  BULLET 

"Eye  for  eye,  tooth  for  tooth." — Exodus  xxi.,  24 

F  the  Juniors  had  a  choice,  would  they  prefer  to 
be  boys  and  girls  growing  to  manhood  and  wo- 
manhood, or  would  they  rather  be  men  and  women 
first  and  then  grow  backward  to  boys  and  girls? 
I  know  your  answer  before  you  can  utter  it.  It  is 
a  splendid  thing  to  be  young  and  then  grow  in  years, 
in  size,  in  strength,  and  in  knowledge.  So  long  as 
you  think  and  act,  you  will  grow;  when  you  stop 
thinking  and  acting  you  will  begin  to  grow  back- 
ward. Your  school  work  helps  you  to  grow  in  knowl- 
edge. From  time  to  time  your  teacher  gives  you  a 
test,  and  after  the  test  you  are  anxious  to  see  your 
corrected  papers.  Each  mark  is  a  measure  of  your 
growth.  If  your  marks  are,  first  A,  then  B,  C  and 
D,  you  are  growing  backward ;  if  the  letters  go  in  the 
other  direction  you  are  growing  upward. 

Every  nation  was  at  first  young,  like  a  little  child, 
and  then  grew  to  be  strong  and  great.  When  a  na- 
tion is  young  it  thinks  and  acts  like  a  child.    When 

84 


THE  GOLD  BULLET 

it  stops  thinking  and  acting  it  stops  growing  up- 
ward. There  was  a  nation  called  Israel  that  tried 
to  learn  all  that  could  be  known  about  God.  The 
Old  Testament  is  the  school-papers  of  this  nation. 
This  child  nation  knew  God  as  a  little  child  would 
know  Him.  If  any  one  strikes  a  child  he  wants  to 
strike  back.  Israel  thought  God  would  want  them 
to  strike  back.  Our  text  became  one  of  their  laws, 
"Eye  for  eye,  tooth  for  tooth" — that  is,  if  a  man 
put  out  another  man's  eye,  then  one  of  his  eyes  was 
to  be  put  out.  If  a  boy  struck  a  companion  and 
broke  his  tooth,  one  of  his  teeth  was  to  be  broken. 
You  boys  would  call  it  "tit-for-tat."  They  listened 
to  God  as  their  teacher,  but  they  did  not  understand 
all  He  said.  Their  test-papers  were  not  perfect. 
Christ,  the  great  teacher,  came  into  this  world,  cor- 
rected their  papers,  and  gave  them  some  new  lessons. 
Our  text  is  one  of  the  mistakes  He  corrected. 

The  Old  Testament  is  their  school-papers,  the  New 
Testament  is  their  corrected  papers,  with  some  new 
lessons.  Christ,  the  great  teacher,  drew  a  line 
through  this  text.  In  Matthew  5 :  38-39  you  will 
find  the  correction :  "Ye  have  heard  that  it  hath  been 
said,  an  eye  for  an  eye,  and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth,  but 
I  say  unto  you,  that  ye  resist  not  evil ;  but  whosoever 

85 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

shall  smite  thee  on  thy  right  cheek,  turn  to  him  the 
other  also."  Many  parts  of  the  Old  Testament  were 
not  corrected,  but  were  marked  "A."  These  test- 
papers  were  correct.  Some  good  people  called  Chris- 
tians read  the  Old  Testament  and  overlook  the  cor- 
rection-marks in  the  New  Testament.  They  take  for 
truth  the  parts  Christ  marked  mistakes.  I  am  going 
to  tell  you  a  story  of  how  a  good  man  in  reading  the 
Old  Testament  overlooked  the  correction  of  our  text. 
At  the  time  of  the  Boer  War,  in  Africa,  the  Dutch 
hated  the  English.  They  believed  that  the  English 
came  only  to  get  their  gold.  A  man  whose  name  was 
Van  Bosboom  was  considered  the  best  shot  in  the 
Transvaal.  It  is  said  that  he  never  missed  a  buck, 
a  kaffir,  or  a  wild  ostrich,  since  he  was  sixteen  years 
of  age.  After  one  of  the  awful  battles  between  the 
Dutch  and  English,  Van  Bosboom  was  told  that  his 
two  sons,  officers  in  the  Dutch  army,  had  been  shot. 
He  went  to  President  Paul  Kruger  and  asked  the 
privilege  of  being  sent  back  into  the  army.  "Oom 
Paul,"  as  the  people  loved  to  call  their  President, 
asked  Van  Bosboom  if  he  still  had  his  famous  rifle. 
"Yes,"  he  replied.  "Then  you  will  need  cartridges," 
said  the  President.  Van  Bosboom  answered,  "I  have 
plenty  of  cartridges;  I  have  made  some  for  myself." 

86 


THE  GOLD  BULLET 

Then  drawing  close  to  "Oom  Paul,"  he  whispered 
something  to  him.  It  must  have  been  astonishing, 
for  "Oom  Paul"  let  his  pipe  drop  from  his  mouth. 
As  he  bade  the  President  good-bj,  he  said:  "I  will 
give  these  people  what  they  came  for."  Then  he 
went  to  the  front  and  waited  for  a  battle.  When  the 
English  army  came,  he  would  get  as  close  to  them  as 
he  could,  and  would  select  two  young  officers,  about 
the  age  of  his  two  sons.  A  sharp  crack  of  his  rifle 
would  be  heard ;  then  a  Httle  later  it  would  be  heard 
again,  but  no  oftener. 

When  the  two  young  men  were  carried  from  the 
field  it  was  noticed  that  instead  of  the  usual  two 
ounces  of  lead  which  formed  the  Martini  bullet,  there 
was  a  bullet  made  of  two  ounces  of  gold.  That  was 
what  he  meant  when  he  whispered  to  the  President, 
"I  will  give  them  what  they  came  for."  He  believed 
they  came  for  gold.  After  he  had  shot  two  young 
officers.  In  order  to  be  avenged  for  his  own  two  boys, 
he  would  return  to  a  quiet  place,  smoke  a  pipe,  and 
read  his  Bible.  He  read  the  Old  Testament,  but  for- 
got to  turn  to  the  New  Testament  in  order  to  learn 
what  parts  the  Great  Teacher  had  corrected.  When 
the  next  battle  was  being  fought  this  man  would  go 
out  again  and  shoot  two  young  officers,  and,  in  every 

87 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

instance,  in  the  heart  of  the  young  man  that  was 
killed  they  would  find  two  ounces  of  gold.  He  be- 
lieved "tit-for-tat"  was  right. 

Every  tear  shed  by  a  father,  or  mother,  brother, 
or  sister  of  the  young  officer  shot  with  a  gold  bullet 
was  a  cry,  "Oh,  that  this  man  had  read  the  corrected 
papers!  Then  he  would  have  used  the  Golden  Rule 
and  not  the  golden  bullet." 

"Ye  have  heard  that  it  hath  been  said,  an  eye  for 
an  eye,  and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth,  but  I  say  unto  you, 
that  ye  resist  not  evil;  but  whosoever  shall  smite 
thee  on  thy  right  cheek,  turn  to  him  the  other  also." 


FOB  FOURTH  SUNDAY  IN  8UMMER 
THE  CURE  FOR  CURIOSITY 

"If  we  confess  our  sins.  He  is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us 

our  sins,  and  to  cleanse  us  from  all  unrighteousness." — 

— /  John  i.,  9 

«^^  URIOSITY  once  killed  a  cat."  This  is  an 
V^  old  saying,  but  is  probably  not  true,  as  a 
cat  is  very,  very  hard  to  kill.  But  curiosity  has 
killed  the  good  intentions  of  many  of  our  boys  and 
girls.  They  want  to  do  right,  but  curiosity  over- 
comes their  good  resolutions.  Last  week  a  girl 
climbed  into  the  seat  of  the  scornful.  She  had  never 
wanted  to  sit  there  until  she  learned  what  a  mean 
chair  it  was.  Curiosity  urged  her  to  do  what  con- 
science told  her  not  to  do.  She  got  green  paint  on 
her  white  dress  and  a  sharp  pain  in  her  conscience. 
She  was  very,  very  sorry,  but  it  was  too,  too  late. 
How  are  you  to  conquer  the  curiosity  that  urges  you 
to  do  what  you  know  is  wrong.?  There  is  just  one 
way,  and  that  is  to  take  Christ  into  your  heart.  "A 
lamp  in  the  attic  gives  no  light  in  the  parlor.  So 
the  head  may  be  full  of  the  knowledge  of  the  truth, 
while  the  heart  is  dark  with  sin."    Christ  is  not  only 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

in  jour  head,  but  in  your  heart,  and  with  full  con- 
trol from  your  head  to  your  feet,  and  from  the  fin- 
ger-tips of  one  hand  to  the  finger-tips  of  the  other 
hand. 

The  Arabs  have  a  fable  that  a  camel  once  came  to 
the  door  of  a  tent  and  thrust  in  its  nose.  Not  being 
resisted,  he  thrust  in  his  feet,  and  there  being  no 
hindrance,  he  came  half-way  in.  After  a  while  he 
came  all  the  way  in.  The  Arab  said  to  the  camel, 
"This  tent  is  too  small  for  two."  "Then,"  said  the 
camel,  "you  had  better  leave."  The  end  of  the 
camel's  nose  was  full  of  curiosity,  and  carried  the 
head  into  the  tent,  then  the  shoulders,  and  little  by 
little  until  the  camel  was  in  possession  of  the  tent 
and  the  master  was  an  outsider.  Christ  is  the  only 
one  who  can  keep  your  life  free  from  the  camel  of 
curiosity.  "If  we  confess  our  sins.  He  is  faithful  and 
just  to  forgive  us  our  sins,  and  to  cleanse  us  from 
all  unrighteousness."  A  real  Christian  can  conquer 
evil  curiosity.  You  ask  if  a  small  boy  or  girl  can  be 
a  Christian — not  a  name  Christian,  but  a  real  one. 
Just  listen  to  a  conversation  between  a  child  and  her 
mother. 

"Mother,"  a  little  child  said,  "how  old  must  I  be 
before  I  can  be  a  Christian.?" 

90 


THE  CURE  FOR  CURIOSITY 

The  wise  mother  answered:  "How  old  will  you 
have  to  be,  Mary,  before  you  can  love  me?" 

"Why,  mother,  I  always  loved  you ;  I  do  now,  and 
I  always  shall.  But  you  have  not  told  me  how  old 
I  shall  have  to  be." 

The  mother  replied :  "How  old  must  you  be  before 
you  can  trust  yourself  wholly  to  me  and  my  care.?" 

"I  always  did,"  she  answered ;  "but  tell  me,  please, 
what  I  want  to  know,"  and  she  put  her  arms  around 
her  mother's  neck. 

The  mother  asked  again :  "How  old  will  you  have 
to  be  before  you  can  do  what  I  want  you  to  do  ?^^ 

Then  the  child  whispered,  half-guessing  what  her 
mother  meant:   "I  can  now,  without  growing  older." 

Her  mother  said:  "You  can  be  a  Christian  now, 
darling,  without  waiting  to  be  older.  Don't  you  want 
to  begin  now.?" 

The  child  whispered,  "Yes."  Then  they  both 
knelt  down,  and  in  her  prayer  the  mother  gave  to 
Christ  her  little  one  who  wanted  to  be  His.  Christ 
then  moved  into  her  soul  and  lived  in  every  room.  In 
every  room  except  one  little  corner  in  the  curiosity 
room. 

Mary  went  out  to  play  but  soon  came  back  and 
said,  "Mama,  1  am  going  to  tell  Frank;  I  want  him 

91 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

to  be  a  Christian."    In  the  evening  Mary  came  home 
with  her  first  convert,  her  brother  Frank. 

They  tried  real  hard  to  be  Christhke,  but  Satan 
tempted  them,  just  as  he  tempts  grown  people. 
Mother  told  them  not  to  open  her  desk.  Then  Mary 
— or  was  it  Frank — had  a  curiosity  to  know  just 
what  was  in  the  desk.  Mother  said,  "Do  not  look  in." 
Curiosity  said,  "I  want  to  look  in."  So  that  day, 
when  mother  was  out,  Frank  and  Mary  climbed  on 
the  curiosity  chair  and  opened  the  desk  and  toppled 
over  a  bottle  of  ink.  "Don't  tell  her!"  whispered 
Frank.  "We'll  shut  the  door  and  run  away,  and 
she'll  never  know  who  did  it."  So  they  ran  away  and 
began  to  play  in  another  room.  But  a  small  voice 
followed  them.  Mary  heard  a  whisper  in  her  heart 
that  took  away  the  joy  of  play,  "Mary,  you  have 
done  wrong."  Then  she  said,  "Frank,  we  ought  to 
tell  mother  and  say  that  we  are  sorry."  Frank  had 
heard  a  whisper  in  his  heart,  but  did  not  heed  it. 
"No,  don't  tell ;  mother  will  think  Bridget  did  it  while 
dusting  the  desk."  Frank  looked  unhappy  and  Mary 
could  not  play.  "I'm  going  to  tell  her  this  very 
minute,  before  the  ink  hardens.  Come,  Frank,  and 
tell  mother."  "Run  Mary,"  said  mother,  "and  get  a 
damp  cloth,  and  Frank,  bring  the  salts  of  lemon." 

99 


THE  CURE  FOR  CURIOSITY 

Then  the  work  began,  and  soon  the  spots  were  re- 
moved. "I  am  so  glad  you  told  me  at  once,"  she 
said,  "for  if  the  ink  had  dried  in,  it  would  have  ruined 
my  desk  and  carpet;  now  it  will  not  show  at  all." 
There  was  a  big,  black  ink  splash  on  the  curiosity 
chair,  but  Frank  and  Mary  agreed  to  leave  it  as  a 
warning  in  the  future. 

Sin  is  as  black  as  ink,  and  always  leaves  a  blot. 
Delay  makes  it  harder  to  confess  and  makes  the 
stain  harder  to  remove.  If  we  confess  our  sins,  God, 
like  mother,  is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our 
sins.  God  loves  us  when  we  confess  our  sins,  and  love 
covers  our  stains.  God  can  also  take  out  the  stains, 
and  he  will  cleanse  us  from  all  unrighteousness. 
Ought  we  not  to  tell  God  before  the  stains  harden  ? 

Better  tell  God  in  time  to  get  Satan  out  of  the 
curiosity  corner. 


93 


FOE  FIFTH  SUNDAY  IN  SUMMER 
EYES    THAT   SEE 

"The  eyes  of  the  Lord  are  in  every  place,  beholding  the  evil  and 
the  good." — Prov.  xv.,  3 

YOUR  eyes  are  windows  through  which  you  look 
out  upon  the  world.  You  train  yourself  to 
run,  to  swim,  and  to  do  many  difficult  things.  You 
should  train  your  eyes  to  see.  Some  hunters  have 
trained  their  eyes  so  that  they  can  shoot  a  nut  out 
of  a  squirrel's  mouth  without  hurting  the  squirrel. 
An  Indian  boy  will  hold  up  his  hand  and  permit  his 
companion  to  shoot  between  his  fingers.  After  the 
shooting  he  still  has  five  fingers.  The  sailor  trains  his 
eyes  until  he  can  see  a  ship  at  sea  long  before  the 
passengers  see  it.  When  God  made  our  eyes  He  in- 
tended us  to  see  a  thousand  times  better  than  we  now 
see.  We  have  all  sinned  against  our  eyes.  This  is 
just  a  hint  about  your  eyes.  It  is  God's  eyes  that  I 
want  to  talk  about  to-day.  In  Psalm  94 :  9,  we  find 
this  question : 

"He  that  formed  the  eye,  shall  He  not  see?"     If 
God  made  our  eyes  so  that  we  can  see  so  well,  surely 

94 


EYES  THAT  SEE 

He  must  have  wonderful  eyes.  God  has  searching 
eyes  and  can  see  to  the  end  of  the  world.  The  X-ray 
enables  us  to  see  through  solid  bodies.  God  can 
look  right  through  the  earth.  He  can  see  the  people 
on  the  other  side  of  the  world  while  looking  at  us  on 
this  side.  Our  text  says,  "The  eyes  of  the  Lord  are 
in  every  place,  beholding  the  evil  and  the  good."  If 
you  dislike  any  one,  you  usually  see  only  the  evil  in 
him.  If  you  love  any  one,  you  are  quite  sure  to  see 
only  the  good.  God  has  honest  eyes  and  sees  the  evil 
and  the  good.  He  sees  all  the  evil  there  is  in  the  world. 
He  sees  even  the  evil  thoughts.  There  is  nothing  hid 
from  God.  Even  if  you  were  so  mean  and  wicked  as 
to  try  to  hide  things  from  your  mother,  you  can  not 
hide  anything  from  God.  He  sees  the  hiding-place 
while  you  are  looking  for  it.  He  beholds  all  the  evil 
in  your  Hfe.  There  is  something  still  more  wonder- 
ful ;  listen,  and  never  forget  what  I  am  going  to  tell 
you.  God  sees  all  the  good  there  is  in  the  world,  sees 
every  good  deed  and  every  good  thought.  Deep 
down  under  a  wicked  life,  God  can  see  the  good  there 
is  in  that  life.  Mother  has  eyes  that  find  nearly 
everything  there  is  good  in  her  boys  and  girls.  If 
you  should  hear  her  talking  to  her  friends  you  would 
be  surprized  to  find  how  really  good  you  are.     But 

95 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

there  are  some  good  thoughts  in  your  heart  that 
even  mother  can  not  see.  You  perform  some  good 
deeds  that  are  so  small  that  no  one  on  earth  can  see 
them.  But  God  sees  them  and  never  forgets  them. 
They  look  large  to  God.  I  am  so  glad  this  world 
has  God.  If  you  did  not  have  Him  there  would  be  no 
one  to  see  the  secret  good  things  in  your  life.  Our 
God  sees  all  good  things.  I  would  like  to  preach 
more  on  this  subject,  but  I  must  stop  and  tell  you 
a  story. 

One  day  an  astronomer  was  engaged  in  making 
some  observations  on  the  sun.  As  it  descended  to- 
ward the  horizon,  just  as  it  was  setting,  there  came 
into  the  vision  of  the  great  telescope  the  top  of  a 
hill  seven  miles  away.  On  the  top  of  that  hill  grew 
a  large  number  of  apple-trees,  and  the  apples  were 
large  and  tempting.  On  one  of  the  trees  was  a  boy, 
and  under  the  tree  was  another  boy. 

One  was  getting  the  apples,  filling  his  pockets  and 
hat,  while  the  other  was  watching  to  make  sure  no- 
body saw  them.  "Throw  me  down  a  ripe  one,  Jim, 
no  one  sees  us."  But  there  was  a  man,  seven  miles 
away,  with  the  great  telescope  directed  fully  upon 
them.  He  saw  every  movement  they  made  as  plainly 
as  if  he  had  been  under  the  tree  with  them. 

96 


EYES  THAT  SEE 

The  astronomer  knew  the  farmer  who  owned  the 
apples,  so  he  called  him  up  on  the  'phone  and  told 
him  what  the  boys  were  doing.  Soon  a  big  bulldog 
came  bounding  through  the  orchard.  He  looked 
very  hungry.  He  was  not  coming  for  apples.  Now, 
both  boys  were  up  a  tree.  Soon  they  saw  a  farmer 
coming  with  a  smile  on  his  face  and  a  whip  in  his 
hand.  The  farmer  was  a  Christian  and  felt  sorry 
for  the  boys.  He  knew  they  did  not  know  how 
wicked  it  was  to  steal.  With  the  whip  he  drove  the 
dog  away  and  with  words  wrapt  in  the  smile,  said, 
"Boys,  throw  those  apples  away.  You  will  feel  un- 
comfortable to-night  when  saying  your  prayers.  I 
see  your  fishing-rods,  and  I  know  you  are  hungry. 
You  are  stealing  apples,  but  I  forgive  you.  Come 
down,  boys,  and  come  with  me  to  the  other  side  of 
the  orchard,  where  the  apples  are  larger  and  better." 
The  boys  had  never  been  to  church,  but  once  they 
had  gone  to  the  Christmas  celebration.  Jim  whis- 
pered to  Sam,  "Is  this  man  God.^"  Sam  said,  "No, 
but  I  think  he  must  be  one  of  His  relatives." 

The  apples  will  soon  be  ripe.  Enjoy  all  the  good, 
ripe  apples  you  can  honestly  find,  but  remember, 
"The  eyes  of  the  Lord  are  in  every  place,  beholding 
the  evil  and  the  good." 

97 


FOB  SIXTH  SUNDAY  IN  SUMMER 

FAULTFINDERS    AND    FAULTRECEIVERS 

"They  found  fault."— Marfc  vii.,  2 

I  HAVE  a  secret  for  my  Juniors.  It  is  an  India- 
rubber  secret.  What  is  an  India-rubber  secret? 
It  is  one  that  can  be  stretched  from  your  Hps  to  a 
friend's  ears.  Nearly  all  secrets  have  a  little  stretch 
in  them.  This  one  has  a  great  stretch,  and  you  can 
make  it  reach  to  all  your  friends.  The  rubber  secret 
I  am  to  tell  you  is,  that  you  can  nearly  always  find 
anything  for  which  you  are  looking.  I  remember 
when  a  boy  seeing  nearly  every  day  a  man  riding 
past  the  schoolhouse.  He  was  quite  sure  to  have  a 
horseshoe  in  the  stirrup  of  his  saddle.  Why?  Be- 
cause he  was  looking  for  horseshoes.  If  there  had 
been  an  eclipse  of  the  sun,  I  fear  he  would  not  have 
seen  it.  He  kept  his  eyes  on  the  road,  looking  for 
lost  horseshoes.  There  was  a  row  of  all-sized  horse- 
shoes along  the  full  length  of  his  barn.  He  found 
what  he  was  looking  for.  If  you  are  looking  for 
nickels,  you  will  find  a  number  of  them  during  the 


FAULTFINDERS  AND  FAULT  RECEIVERS 

year.  If  you  are  looking  for  faults,  you  will  be  sure 
to  find  plenty  of  them.  If  you  could  find  nickels  as 
easily  as  you  find  faults,  you  would  soon  be  a  mil- 
lionaire. If  we  were  willing  to  give  away  nickels  as 
freely  as  we  give  away  the  faults  of  our  friends,  then 
faultreceivers  would  soon  be  automobile-riders. 
Faultfinders  are  not  the  worst  people  in  the  world. 
Faultreceivers,  people  who  listen  to  faultfinders,  are 
very  much  meaner. 

John  finds  a  fault  in  his  friend  Robert — probably 
not  hard  to  find — and  then  he  finds  a  boy  willing  to 
hear  about  it — probably  not  hard  to  find.  The  boy 
who  hears  it  would  not  say  anything  against  Robert, 
but  feels  free  to  tell  all  his  companions  what  John 
said  about  Robert.  A  second-hand  secret  has  a 
longer  stretch  than  has  a  first-hand  secret.  He  can 
have  the  fun  of  telling,  and  then  have  the  fun  of 
seeing  John  and  Robert  fight  it  out. 

The  man  who  gathers  cigar-butts  from  the  gutters 
is  a  mean  fellow,  but  not  so  mean  as  the  man  who 
makes  them  into  cigarets.  The  man  who  smokes  them 
gets  all  the  meanness.  The  butt-gatherer  is  the  fault- 
finder. The  man  who  wraps  up  the  faults  in  the 
tissue-paper  of  "I  heard"  is  the  cigaret-maker,  and 
the  smoker  is  the  faultreceiver,  who  blows  the  rings 

99 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

of  scandal,  like  smoke,  into  your  life.  You  know  a 
smoke-ring,  like  a  rubber-band,  has  a  big  stretch. 
I  want  my  Juniors  to  decide  to-day  not  to  find  fault. 

Probably  your  father  and  mother,  when  children, 
were  faultfinders  or  faultreceivers.  Have  you  no- 
ticed that  they  now  never  find  fault  with  any  one, 
and  that  they  now  refuse  to  listen  to  the  fault- 
finder.? Ask  father  and  mother  how  they  got  rid 
of  this  bad  habit.  Beg  them  to  tell  3^ou  all  about  it. 
If  father  or  mother  blushes,  do  not  ask  "Why.'"' 

A  long  time  ago,  in  the  far,  far  away,  there  were 
children,  now  all  dead,  who  went  home  from  church 
and  poisoned  their  parents  at  the  dinner-table — 
poisoned  their  minds  by  finding  fault  with  the  church. 
If  you  should  ever  find  fault  with  the  church,  do  not 
tell  your  parents,  as  it  might  keep  your  father  and 
mother  away  from  the  church. 

Not  in  your  church,  but  in  one  far,  far  away,  a 
long,  long  time  ago,  some  good  children  lost  their 
love  for  their  pastor  and  church  because  their  parents 
said  so  many  unkind  things  about  the  pastor  and 
the  church.  When  the  children  grew  to  be  young 
men  and  women,  the  parents  came  to  the  pastor  and 
asked  him  why  the  children  did  not  love  their  church. 
Would  the  dear  pastor  pray  for  their  children.    Kiss 

100 


FAULTFINDERS  AND  FAULTRECEIVERS 

father  and  mother  and  tell  them  how  glad  you  are 
that  they  are  not  like  these  parents  of  a  long,  long 
time  ago,  in  a  far,  far  away  land.  Now,  I  will  tell 
you  a  story.  It  is  just  a  think  story,  the  kind  of 
story  out  of  which  dreams  are  made. 

A  boy  who  had  the  habit  of  faultfinding  and  fault- 
receiving,  died,  and  was  admitted  into  Paradise  on 
condition  that  he  was  not  to  indulge  in  this  habit  of 
censuring  and  criticizing. 

He  saw  two  angels  carrying  a  beam  crosswise  and 
knocking  it  against  every  object  they  met,  but  said 
nothing.  He  wanted  to  find  fault,  but  did  not.  He 
next  saw  two  angels  drawing  water  from  a  fountain 
and  pouring  it  into  a  cask  which  had  holes  in  the 
bottom,  but  he  still  held  his  peace.  At  many  other 
things  of  the  same  kind  he  also  supprest  his  laughter 
and  remarks,  fearing  that  he  might  be  otherwise  ex- 
pelled from  the  place. 

At  last  he  saw  a  cart  stuck  fast  in  the  mire,  with 
one  pair  of  horses  yoked  to  it  before  and  another  pair 
behind,  and  the  carter  urging  both  forward  at  the 
same  time.  It  was  more  than  this  boy  could  do  to 
refrain  from  finding  fault,  and  the  consequence  was 
that  he  was  seized  by  two  angels  and  turned  to  the 
door.     Before  it    closed    behind    him,  however,   he 

101 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

looked  back,  and  saw  that  the  horses  were  winged 
and  had  succeeded  in  drawing  the  cart  out  of  the 
mud  into  the  air.  He  was  very  sorry  for  being  so 
fooHsh  as  to  find  fault.  As  the  door  closed  behind 
him  an  angel  whispered  that  there  was  no  doubt  that, 
in  the  other  cases  of  the  beam  and  of  the  cask,  there 
were  equally  good  reasons  for  what  was  done. 

Faultfinders  and  faultreceivers  remain  for  a  long 
time  on  earth,  but  can  not  stay  long  in  heaven. 


102 


FOB  SEVENTH  SUNDAY  IN  SUMMER 

PEACE-MAKERS    IN    AUGUST 

"Blessed  are  the  peacemakers." — Matt.^  v.,  9 

ON  the  coldest  day  in  winter  which  is  the  best 
month  of  the  year  to  think  about?  The 
answer  is  a  chorus,  "August,  August,  August !"  In 
which  month  do  you  find  it  most  difficult  to  keep  from 
getting  angry?  Again  I  hear  the  chorus  of 
"August."  It  is  a  long,  hot  month.  A  good  month 
to  think  about  when  you  are  cold.  A  difficult  month 
in  which  to  keep  cool  when  the  brain  is  hot.  It  is 
the  month  when  all  find  it  hard  to  keep  the  anger- 
pot  from  boiling.  August  is  the  month  when  many 
peace-makers  take  a  vacation.  We  all  love  dogs 
during  eleven  months  of  the  year,  but  many  people 
are  afraid  of  them  during  August.  Why?  Because 
there  is  a  star  called  "dog  star"  that  rises  in  August 
at  the  same  time  as  the  sun.  These  are  "dog  days," 
and  some  people  imagine  that  dogs  go  mad  at  that 
time.  This,  I  think,  is  a  superstition  about  dogs,  but 
I  know  it  is  a  truth  about  boys  and  girls,  and  some 

103 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

other  people.  How  many  of  my  Juniors  will  make 
a  special  effort  to  be  peacemakers  in  August? 
"Blessed  are  the  peacemakers,  for  they  shall  be  called 
the  children  of  God." 

"I  was  a  peacemaker  to-day,"  said  Httle  Amy  on 
a  hot  August  day.  Her  mother  asked,  "What  makes 
you  think  so .?"  "Cause  there  was  something  I  didn't 
tell,"  replied  Amy.  This  is  one  of  the  best  ways  in 
the  world  of  being  a  peacemaker.  Right  there  and 
then  Amy  became  one  of  the  "children  of  God."  If 
two  strong  men  are  fighting,  you  may  be  afraid  to 
step  between  them  and  try  to  make  peace.  But,  like 
Amy,  you  can  all  be  peacemakers.  "Cause  there  was 
something  I  didn't  tell." 

Another  way  to  be  a  peacemaker  is  by  forgiving 
those  who  talk  too  much.  "Cause  they  have  nothing 
to  tell  they  enjoy  telling  what  is  not  true  about  you." 
Can  you  forgive  those  who  say  mean  things  about 
you.? 

A  story  is  told  of  Peter  Miller,  a  plain  Baptist 
preacher  of  Ephrata,  Pennsylvania,  in  the  days  of 
the  Revolutionary  War.  Near  his  church  lived  a 
man  who  abused  the  pastor  in  every  way  he  could 
abuse  him.  This  man  was  arrested  for  treason — that 
is,  for  not  being  true  to  his  country.     He  was  tried, 

104 


PEACE-MAKERS  IN  AUGUST 

found  guilty  and  sentenced  to  be  hanged.  Peter 
Miller,  the  old  preacher,  started  out  on  foot  and 
walked  the  whole  seventy  miles  to  Philadelpliia  that 
he  might  plead  for  the  man's  life.  Washington 
heard  his  plea,  but  he  said,  "No,  your  plea  for  your 
friend  can  not  be  granted."  "My  friend,"  said  the 
preacher.  "He  is  the  worst  enemy  I  have."  "What.?" 
said  Washington,  "You  have  walked  nearly  seventy 
miles  to  save  the  life  of  your  enemy  .^^  That  puts  the 
matter  in  a  different  light.    I  will  grant  the  pardon." 

The  pardon  was  made  out  and  given  to  Miller, 
and  he  at  once  started  to  walk  to  a  village  fifteen 
miles  off,  where  the  execution  was  to  take  place  that 
afternoon.  He  arrived  just  as  the  man  was  being 
taken  to  the  scaffold.  The  condemned  man,  as  he 
looked  out  over  the  crowd  saw  Peter  Miller  come  up, 
and  he  said:  "There  is  old  Peter  Miller.  He  has 
walked  all  the  way  from  Ephrata  to  have  his  revenge 
by  seeing  me  hanged."  He  had  scarcely  said  the 
words  when  the  pardon  was  presented  by  the  dear  old 
preacher  of  peace.  The  life  of  the  traitor  was  spared, 
and  the  preacher  proved  he  was  a  child  of  God. 
"Blessed  are  the  peacemakers." 

I  must  tell  you  about  one  wrong  way  to  make 
peace.     A  missionary  was  praying  and  talking  with 

105 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

an  Indian  chief  who  was  dying.  The  missionary 
said :  "You  have  been  in  many  wars,  but  now  before 
you  die  you  should  forgive  all  your  enemies  and  be 
at  peace  with  them."  The  answer  was:  "I  am  at 
peace  with  all  my  enemies,  for  I  have  killed  all  of 
them."  Some  one  has  called  this  "graveyard  peace." 
Over  their  graves  we  could  not  write,  "Blessed  are 
the  peace-makers." 

But  I  must  be  a  peace-maker  with  August  before  I 
close  this  chat  with  the  children.  August  is  the 
greatest  peace  month  in  the  year.  It  was  in  August, 
1815,  that  the  first  peace  society  of  the  world  was 
organized.  In  the  library  of  a  New  York  merchant, 
David  L.  Dodge,  in  the  month  of  August,  the  world's 
first  peace  society  came  into  existence.  Three  cheers 
for  August !  It  is  the  best  month  of  the  year  to  or- 
ganize yourself  into  a  peace  societ}^  If  you  can 
keep  peace  in  August,  you  can  take  your  own  con- 
stitution and  make  a  few  by-laws  for  the  remainder 
of  the  year.  Now  for  a  story  as  I  found  it  in  one 
of  our  Christian  papers. 

On  the  peak  of  the  Andes  Mountains,  fourteen 
thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  on  the 
line  which  marks  the  boundary  between  the  republics 
of  Argentine  and  Chile,  has  been  erected  one  of  the 

106 


PEACE-MAKERS  IN  AUGUST 

most  striking  monuments  in  the  world.  For  genera- 
tions the  people  who  live  in  the  two  republics  have 
quarreled  about  the  location  of  this  boundary-line. 
Sometimes  the  disputes  led  to  war  and  bloodshed. 
The  two  nations  are  now  at  peace.  They  are  both 
growing  in  wealth  and  strength  and  bid  fair  to  out- 
strip all  the  other  countries  of  the  South  American 
continent. 

These  Spanish-Americans  have  warm  hearts  and 
vivid  imaginations.  When  they  sign  a  treaty  they 
are  not  satisfied  to  tie  a  piece  of  red  tape  around  the 
peace  papers  and  lock  them  up  in  a  vault  of  the  state 
department.  That  might  do  for  North  Americans, 
but  to  them  it  seems  a  very  dull  and  stupid  way.  To 
let  all  the  world  know  that  they  are  at  peace  they 
have  made  a  colossal  statue  of  Christ,  twenty-six 
feet  high,  and  standing  on  a  granite  hemisphere 
symbolizing  the  world.  This  they  have  set  up  upon 
the  Andean  peak,  three  miles  above  the  level  of  the 
Pacific  Ocean.  They  cut  into  the  pedestal  an  in- 
scription in  Spanish  which,  being  interpreted,  reads: 

"These  mountains  will  crumble  to  dust  ere  Argen- 
tines and  Chileans  break  the  peace  which  at  the  feet 
of  Christ  the  Redeemer  they  have  sworn  to  keep." 
I  hope  the  children  of  these  two  countries  will  spend 

107 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

their  August  holidays  on  top  of  this  mountain,  and, 
joining  hands,  will  play  their  games  around  this 
peace  monument. 

Some  day  we  hope  to  have  a  Peace  monument  in 
America,  around  which  our  children  can  play.  Why  ? 
Because,  the  first  time  a  quarrel  between  two  great 
nations  was  settled  without  war  was  the  quarrel  we 
had  with  England  concerning  the  "Alabama  Claims." 
In  1871  we  made  peace  without  war. 


108 


FOR  ETOHTH  SUNDAY  IN  SUMMER 

ONE  FOR  YOU  AND  ONE  FOR  ME 

"In  my  father's  house  are  many  mansions.    I  go  to  prepare  a 
place  for  you." — John  xiv.,  2 

DO  you  have  a  room  or  do  you  live  in  the  hall.? 
What  a  strange  question,  you  say.  I  have  a 
room  all  my  own.  Is  it  like  grandma's  room.?  No; 
grandma's  room  looks  like  grandma,  and  my  room 
just  looks  like  me.  Papa  found  out  the  colors  I  like, 
the  kind  of  a  bed  I  wanted,  the  chairs  I  would  enjoy, 
and  he  said  I  might  select  my  own  pictures.  I  do 
not  know  how  papa  and  mama  found  out,  but  they 
made  just  the  kind  of  a  room  I  wanted.  It  is  a 
dream,  and  it  is  my  dream.  Grandma's  room  is  too 
quiet  for  me  and  it  is  not  furnished  like  my  room,  but 
she  says  everything  in  it  is  just  what  she  likes.  Wish 
you  could  see  brother's  room — dumb-bells,  Indian 
clubs,  guns,  and,  and — just  come  and  see  it.  There  is 
nothing  in  it  like  a  girl's  room  but  girls'  pictures. 
Papa  put  a  double  floor  in  Jack's  room  and  two  mir- 
rors in  my  room.     I  wish  you  could  see  Dick  Archer's 

109 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

room.  He  has  circus  posters  on  the  wall.  His  neck- 
ties are  hung  on  the  gas-fixtures  and  look  like  a 
faded  rainbow.  The  room  is  like  the  seashore  when 
the  tide  is  going  out.  His  father  says  he  is  going  to 
send  Dick  to  military  school  and  give  him  some  les- 
sons in  art.  When  Dick  gets  some  new  ideas  his  father 
will  furnish  his  room  to  fit  his  new  life. 

There  are  several  rooms  in  my  father's  house,  but 
no  two  of  them  are  alike.  Each  room  is  just  a  little 
mansion — mine  is  all  my  own. 

Mary,  I  am  so  glad  you  told  me  about  your 
father's  house  and  Dick  Archer's  room,  for  you  have 
made  it  easy  for  me  to  tell  the  Juniors  what  Christ 
meant  when  He  said:  "In  my  father's  house  are 
many  mansions ;  I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you." 
He  knows  just  what  you  like  and  what  I  like,  and  Ht 
will  have  a  place  ready,  one  for  you  and  one  for  me, 
when  we  go  home.  "May  I  ask  a  question?"  Cer- 
tainly, you  may  ask  a  question.  "Does  the  text  mean 
that  God,  like  papa,  prepares  the  kind  of  a  room 
we  like  best,  one  for  Dick  Archer  and  one  for  me?" 
I  once  read  a  story,  written  by  a  Mr.  Wilson,  that 
just  answers  your  question: 

A  very  wealthy  society  woman  had  a  dream.  She 
dreamed  that  an  angel  came  to  her  and  asked  her 

110 


ONE  FOR  YOU  AND  ONE  FOR  ME 

if  she  would  like  to  go  up  and  look  at  heaven.  Her 
curiosity  at  once  prompted  her  to  accept  the  invita- 
tion. Up  and  down  the  golden  street  she  followed 
the  angel.  Everywhere  she  saw  beautiful,  shining 
mansions.  Some  were  tall  and  built  of  gold  and  pearl 
and  precious  stones,  while  others  were  small  and 
scarcely  begun.  Seeing  one  particularly  beautiful 
mansion,  she  said  to  the  angel,  "You  may  reserve  this 
one  for  me,  faithful  guide."  The  angel  smiled  and 
answered,  "You  can  not  choose  another's  mansion 
here ;  you  must  dwell  in  the  one  you  yourself  furnish. 
This  one  belongs  to  Hannah  Laden,  your  servant." 
The  woman  caught  her  breath  and  gasped,  "What 
can  you  mean?  This  grand  palace  belong  to  my 
common  handmaiden?"  "Yes,"  replied  the  angel, 
"all  day  long  she  works  for  you  faithfully,  and  en- 
dures your  hard  service  with  patience,  and  when 
alone  she  is  always  praying  for  your  soul.  At  night, 
when  her  labors  are  done,  she  is  out  visiting  the  sick 
or  reading  to  the  aged  and  infirm  from  God's  word, 
and  giving  all  she  can  spare  from  her  wages  to  suf- 
fering humanity.  Each  prayer  is  a  precious  gem; 
each  charity  a  layer  of  pearl;  each  act  of  mercy  a 
pillar  of  gold,  which  we  use  in  constructing  her  man- 


Ill 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

The  lady  was  silenced  for  a  time;  but  finally  her 
proud  nature  asserted  itself  again,  and  she  began 
to  fancy  that  if  this  house  could  belong  to  humble 
Hannah  Laden,  then  there  must  be  a  palace  some- 
where in  heaven  awaiting  her,  and  she  asked  to  see 
it.  The  guide  led  her  to  a  street  where  the  houses 
were  small,  and,  pointing  to  an  unusually  humble, 
unfinished  dwelling,  said,  "This  one  is  yours."  She 
looked  at  the  structure,  and  said,  "This  one  for  me.^* 
Why,  I  can't  believe  it!  Why  is  mine  so  small  and 
rough?"  The  angel  looked  sad  and  answered, 
"Madam,  we  have  used  the  material  you  have  sent 
up  for  it.  When  you  send  more,  we  shall  add  to  it, 
and  of  such  material  as  you  send  shall  your  mansion 
be  built."     And  she  left  heaven,  a  sorrowing  woman. 

After  she  awoke  her  dream  filled  her  heart  and 
mind,  and  she  began  life  anew  from  that  day.  She 
has  been  sending  up  ever  since  such  rich  materials 
as  will  insure  her  a  glorious  mansion  in  the  sky.  She 
has  so  purified  her  heart  and  life  that  when  the  real 
summons  comes,  and  she  is  taken  away,  she  will  surely 
not  be  denied  the  happiness  of  looking  upon  the 
glorious  face  she  so  desired  to  see. 

One  for  you  and  one  for  me.  The  rooms  will  not 
be  ahke  unless  we  send  up  the  same  kind  of  material. 

112 


ONE  FOR  YOU  AND  ONE  FOR  ME 

The  material  is  what  we  are  doing  each  day.  If  we 
are  working  for  self,  then  the  material  is  selfish.  If 
we  are  working  to  make  the  world  better,  then  the 
material  will  be  beautiful.  Each  night  when  you 
pray,  ask  what  kind  of  material  have  I  sent  up  to- 
day for  my  mansion.  There  is  one  for  you  and  one 
for  me. 

What  did  you  say,  Archie.?  "I  said,  we  must  be 
little  architects  drawing  our  plans  for  Christ,  who 
must  be  a  great  builder." 

Will  each  Junior  commit  this  verse,  written  by  O. 
W.  Holmes: 

Build  thee  more  stately  mansions,  O  my  soul, 

As  the  swift  seasons  roll! 

Leave  thy  low-vaulted  past ! 
Let  each  new  temple,  nobler  than  the  last, 
Shut  thee  from  heaven  with  a  dome  more  vast, 

Till  thou  at  length  art  free. 
Leaving  thine  outworn  shell  by  life's  unresting  sea. 


113 


FOR  NINTH  SUNDAY  IN  SUMMER 

PLAYING    TO    MUSIC 

"We  have  piped  unto  you,  and  ye  have  not  danced." 
— Matt.i  xi.,  17 

THE  boy  or  girl  who  will  not  dance  is  a  dunce. 
I  mean  the  kind  of  dance  that  Christ  watched 
and  enjoyed,  when  the  children  were  playing  on  the 
streets  of  Jerusalem.  Christ  speaks  of  two  street- 
games — one  was  funeral,  and  the  other  was  wedding. 
Children  then,  like  children  now,  imitated  the  older 
people.  At  a  real  funeral  the  mourners  played  on 
reed-pipes,  something  like  our  flute.  When  the  sad 
and  doleful  music  was  heard,  the  people  would  la- 
ment. Lament  means  to  cry  and  moan.  The  chil- 
dren would  imitate  the  funeral — they  played  funeral. 
Sometimes  when  a  trifle  contrary  they  refused  to 
play.  "We  have  moaned  unto  you,"  the  other  chil- 
dren said,  "and  ye  have  not  lamented." 

Their  other  game  gave  no  excuse  for  refusing  to 
play.  It  was  the  game  of  wedding.  The  same 
pipe  or  flute  was  used,  and  they  played  the  same 

114 


PLAYING  TO  MUSIC 

tune,  but  they  played  it  a  little  faster.  There  were 
some  cross-grained  children  who  would  not  play 
wedding.  I  think  that  they  were  the  ones  who 
were  not  asked  to  play  bride  and  groom.  Then 
those  who  were  playing  would  say,  "We  have  piped 
unto  you,  and  ye  have  not  danced."  Christ  watched 
these  children  when  they  played,  as  truly  as  He 
watched  them  when  they  prayed.  What  a  beautiful 
picture!  Children  on  the  street  dancing  to  music 
and  shouting  to  one  another  in  great  glee,  Christ 
watching  them  and  rejoicing  with  them.  When  I  was 
a  boy  the  minister  preached  about  Christ  listening 
when  I  prayed.  How  I  wish  he  had  told  me  that 
Christ  watched  me  when  I  played.  How  much  better 
I  would  have  played. 

The  children  Christ  was  watching  were  not  dancing 
in  the  way  we  mean  by  dancing.  They  were  playing 
to  music.  In  the  army  they  have  music  to  help  the 
soldiers  march.  Why  not  have  music  to  help  the 
children  play?  It  is  better  to  have  music  while  you 
exercise  than  it  is  to  have  music  while  you  eat.  You 
can  eat  fast  enough  and  long  enough  without  music. 
I  wish  we  could  have  a  band  of  music  on  every  play- 
ground. When  music  gets  into  your  ears  it  runs 
down  into  your  feet  and  makes  you    dance.      You 

115 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

ought  to  dance.  Dancing  in  the  open  air  is  fine  ex- 
ercise. God  put  dance  into  your  feet  to  make  you 
grow.  I  am  always  glad  when  I  hear  the  street- 
band  and  see  the  children  dancing.  I  once  heard  of 
some  one  who  counted  the  steps  taken  by  dancers. 
As  many  as  56,000  steps  are  often  taken  by  the  chil- 
dren. That  is  three  miles  longer  than  the  Marathon 
race.  The  children's  street  dance  is  the  easiest  and 
best  way  of  exercise. 

There  are  two  things  I  want  you  to  remember. 
The  first  is  that  Christ  watches  you  not  only  when 
you  pray,  but  He  watches  you  when  you  play. 
Christ  was  interested  in  me  when,  as  a  boy,  I  danced 
along  the  streets  of  the  little  village  of  Candor.  He 
is  interested  in  you  as  you  dance  along  the  streets  of 
the  great  city  of  New  York.  Isn't  it  splendid  to 
know  that  Christ  enjoys  your  play.?  The  second 
thing  to  remember  is  that  you  have  no  more  right  to 
be  cranky  and  cross-grained  when  you  play  than  you 
have  to  be  cranky  and  cross-grained  when  you  pray. 
God  watches  while  you  play  and  listens  while  you 
pray. 

The  Bible  says  there  is  "a  time  to  weep  and  a  time 
to  laugh ;  a  time  to  mourn  and  a  time  to  dance."  A 
time  to  dance — that  means  that  we  are  not  to  dance 

116 


PLAYING  TO  MUSIC 

all  the  time.  When  the  dancing-time  is  up,  you 
should  stop  and  be  ready  to  do  something  else.  You 
ought  to  work  and  pray  as  heartily  and  cheerfully 
as  you  dance  and  play.  The  dance  habit,  wanting  to 
dance  all  the  time,  is  a  very  bad  habit.  Dance  and 
play  in  order  to  grow  strong  and  happy.  Get  strong 
and  happy  in  order  that  you  may  do  great  things 
for  God  and  man.  There  are  battles  to  be  fought  in 
life  that  can  not  be  won  by  those  who  know  only  how 
to  dance. 

May  I  tell  you  a  story.?  The  Sybarites  were 
great  warriors.  At  one  time  they  sent  out  300,000 
men  to  fight  their  enemies.  They  had  fine  horses,  and 
being  very  proud  of  them,  taught  them  to  dance. 
The  horses  would  rise  on  their  hind-feet  and  then  on 
their  fore-feet,  as  they  kept  time  to  the  music.  For 
more  than  a  year  the  soldiers  had  nothing  to  do,  so 
they  exercised  their  horses  by  having  them  dance. 
The  horses  got  into  the  dancing  habit.  Then  came 
a  great  war,  and  the  soldiers  rode  out  to  the  battle- 
field expecting  to  gain  a  victory.  The  enemy  were 
on  foot  and  the  horsemen  expected  to  ride  right  over 
them,  and  to  easily  defeat  them.  The  enemy  knew 
the  horses  had  the  dance  habit.  They  knew  the 
horses'  dance  music.      So  when   the  horsemen  came 

117 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

rushing  at  them,  the  enemy  began  to  play  dance 
music.  The  horses  forgot  it  was  war  and  began  to 
dance.  What  a  sight!  Warriors  eager  for  battle, 
sitting  on  dancing  horses.  The  horses  danced,  rising 
on  their  hind-feet  and  then  on  their  fore-feet,  turning 
to  right,  then  turning  to  left,  forward  and  back- 
ward and  balanced  all.  While  the  horses  danced,  the 
enemy  fought,  and  the  brave  horsemen  were  easily 
conquered.  The  battle  was  lost  because  the  war 
horses  had  the  dance  habit.  Let  us  make  a  resolution 
to-day  to  play  and  pray,  to  work  and  never  shirk. 
Christ  came  to  set  our  life  to  music. 


118 


FOB  TENTH  SUNDAY  IN  SUMMER 
THE    LAND    OF    FORGET 

"The  end  of  forgetfulness." — Psalm  Ixxxviii.,  12 

THE  train  starts  early  every  morning.  There 
are  several  trains  a  day  for  the  Land  of  For- 
get. Children  are  on  every  train.  Sometimes  they 
come  back  on  the  switch-train.  We  are  all  tourists 
and  every  one  takes  a  trip  to  the  Land  of  Forget. 
Many  things  are  left  on  the  train  as  we  journey  to 
this  strange  land.  Guess  how  many  articles  are  left 
in  one  year  in  the  London  cabs  by  passengers  on 
their  way  to  the  Land  of  Forget.  Can't  guess  ?  Then 
I  shall  tell  you,  as  I  have  the  report:  19,000  um- 
brellas, 850  canes,  267  rugs,  742  opera-glasses,  3,239 
purses,  926  articles  of  jewelry,  and  a  number  of  birds, 
dogs  and  cats.  All  on  their  way  to  the  Land  of 
Forget.  Some  foolish  and  funny  things  are  done 
in  the  Land  of  Forget.     Here  is  one: 

A  French  writer,  engaged  upon  a  profound  scien- 
tific work,  rang  for  his  valet.  He  then  sat  down  and 
wrote  this  note:  "Kindly  send  some  one  to  arrest 
the  cook.     She  has  stolen  my  purse."     This  he  di- 

119 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

rected  to  the  Chief  of  Police.  The  valet  appeared, 
and,  while  waiting  for  his  master  to  finish  writing, 
picked  up  something  lying  under  the  table.  As  he 
took  the  note,  he  said,  "Monsieur,  here  is  your  purse ; 
I  found  it  under  the  table." 

"Ah,  just  in  time ;  give  me  the  note,  Jean." 
He  hurriedly  added  the  postcript:  "I  have  found 
my  purse;  it  is  unnecessary  to  send  any  one,"  and 
handed  the  missive  to  the  valet,  saying,  "DeHver  this 
at  once;  it  is  important."  He  then  went  back  to  his 
writing. 

There  are  too  many  trains  and  cabs  to  the  Land 
of  Forget.  I  say  too  many ;  but  there  should  be  one, 
at  least,  each  day.  There  are  some  things  we  should 
take  to  the  Land  of  Forget.  God  made  this  land, 
and  it  has  room  for  many  things  we  should  not  find 
room  for  here.  Learn  this  verse  before  you  take  the 
morning  train.    Do  not  forget ! 

If  you  know  of  a  thing  that  will  darken  the  joy 

Of  a  man  or  a  woman,  a  girl  or  a  boy, 
That  will  wipe  out  a  smile,  or  the  least  way  annoy 

A  fellow,  or  cause  any  gladness  to  cloy, 
It's  a  pretty  good  plan  to  forget  it. 

But  how  many  things  there  are  that  we  should 

not  forget.     Fathers,  mothers  and  friends  are  very 

much  troubled  by  the  Junior's  forget.     "I  forgot!" 

120 


THE  LAND  OF  FORGET 

"I  did  not  think !"  I  fear  the  Juniors  take  too  many 
trips  to  the  Land  of  Forget.  There  must  be  a  hole 
in  the  corner  of  your  memory.  What  a  strange  hole 
it  is.  If  you  have  "a  date"  for  a  party  or  a  day  off 
with  a  friend  it  never  falls  out  through  that  hole.  If 
a  visit  is  promised  you,  it  would  not  fall  out  even  if 
the  hole  were  as  large  as  the  pocket.  But  the  letter 
to  be  posted,  the  errand  to  be  run,  or  something  for 
mama  as  big  as  a  barn-door  will  drop  out  through 
the  hole.  I  know  a  boy  who  said,  "I  fordegot."  I 
once  read  a  story  a  Mr.  Roach  wrote  on  how  to  cure 
the  "fordegot." 

"Did  my  son  post  that  letter  I  gave  him  yester- 
day .P"  asked  Ned's  mama. 

Ned's  hand  dived  into  the  inside  pocket  of  his  coat 
and  brought  out  a  crumpled  letter. 

"I'm  so  sorry,  mama !"  he  cried,  seeing  the  grieved 
look  on  his  mama's  face. 

"I,  too,  am  sorry,"  responded  mama,  "as  that  was 
a  letter  inviting  Aunt  Amy  to  stop  off  here  on  her 
way  home." 

"Oh!  oh!"  cried  Ned.  "And  I  do  so  love  Aunt 
Amy!" 

"If  you  catch  this  mail  the  letter  may  yet  be  in 
time,"  said  mama. 

121 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

Ned  ran  off  as  fast  as  he  could  to  post  the  precious 
letter. 

Another  day  it  was  a  school-book  which  he  left  out 
in  the  orchard.  It  rained  all  right  and  ruined  his 
book.  Ned  tried  to  remember,  but  always  forgot. 
One  day  Uncle  Charlie  heard  Ned  say  to  his  mama, 
*'Plague  take  my  forgettery!"  Uncle  Charlie  knew 
that  Ned  had  been  forgetting  again,  and  he  thought 
of  a  plan  to  cure  Ned  of  his  habit. 

"Ned  will  be  eight  years  old  Saturday,"  said  mama 
that  day  at  tea-time." 

*'Can  I  have  a  party  with  both  boys  and  girls,  and 
plum-cakes  and  candles?"  cried  Ned. 

"Of  course  you  can,"  said  Uncle  Charlie.  "I'll 
buy  the  candles — eight  and  one  to  grow  on." 

"I'll  bake  the  plum-cake,"  said  mama. 

"I'll  write  the  invitations,"  said  sister  Nell. 

"I'll  make  a  heaping  platter  of  fudge,"  laughed 
Aunt  Amy,  who,  after  all,  had  gotten  the  delayed 
letter  in  time. 

"And  I,"  said  papa,  "will  send  up  some  ice-cream." 

Ned  danced  for  joy  and  ran  off  to  school  with  a 
hop,  skip  and  jump.  Saturday  morning  Ned's 
mama  sent  him  ever  so  far  to  Mr.  Benton's,  who 
raised  vegetables  and  chickens  to  sell.     Try  as  he 

122 


THE  LAND  OF  FORGET 

would,  Ned  could  not  get  home  until  just  dinner 
time;  but  he  told  Mr.  Benton  all  about  his  party, 
and  Mr.  Benton  gave  him  a  cute  little  bantam 
chicken  for  his  birthday  present. 

"Do  you  think,"  asked  Ned  at  dinner,  "my  party 
will  come  right  at  two  o'clock?" 

"Well,  well,"  said  Uncle  Charhe,  "I  forgot  all 
about  those  candles !" 

"I've  been  so  busy,"  said  Aunt  Amy,  "that  I  forgot 
to  make  the  fudge!" 

"And  I,"  said  papa,  "forgot  to  order  the  ice- 
cream.    It  is  too  bad!" 

"It  doesn't  matter  at  all,  said  sister  Nell,  "for  I 
forgot  to  invite  any  one  to  the  party." 

Ned's  face  grew  longer  and  longer,  and  he  looked 
at  his  mama,  who  had  not  spoken  yet.  Surely  she 
had  not  forgotten ! 

"Why,"  laughed  Uncle  Charlie  before  mama  could 
speak,  "it'll  be  a  forget  party,  won't  it  ?" 

This  was  too  much.  Ned  burst  into  tears  and  ran 
up  to  his  own  little  room.  After  what  seemed  a 
long,  long  time  to  Ned  and  to  Ned's  mama,  too,  she 
stole  up-stairs  with  a  great  big  piece  of  plum-cake, 
for,  try  as  she  would,  mama  could  not  forget  her  little 
boy's  birthday. 

193 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

After  that,  when  Ned  forgot,  which  he  seldom  did, 
some  one  would  say,  "I  guess  we  would  better  have 
another  forget  party." 

Solomon  was  a  very,  very  wise  man,  and  he  said: 
"My  son,  forget  not  my  law ;  but  let  thine  heart  keep 
my  commandments."  Now,  I  believe  we  have  the  real 
cure  for  "fordegot."  Put  the  things  you  are  to  re- 
member in  your  heart  as  well  as  in  your  brain.  There 
is  no  hole  in  the  pocket  of  your  heart. 


124 


FOB  ELEVENTH  SUNDAY  IN  SUMMER 
THE    VEX   HOSPITAL 

"Heal  me  for  my  bones  are  vexed." — Psalm  vi.,  2 

THERE  are  two  little  companions  who  are  very 
close  friends.  The  name  of  one  is  Vex,  and 
the  other  one's  name  is  Cry.  Vex  has  a  room  in 
your  heart,  but  often  lodges  in  some  other  part  of 
your  body.  Cry  has  a  room  with  a  bath,  just  back 
of  your  eye.  No  one  has  ever  seen  Vex,  but  his 
shadow  often  crosses  your  face.  The  moment  you 
look  bright  the  shadow  hides,  for  it  is  very  much 
afraid  of  light.  Cry  has  a  little  wheel  called  a  tear, 
on  which  he  rolls  out  on  your  cheek  when  Vex  calls 
for  help.  Looking  through  this  tear  you  can  almost 
see  Cry.     You  can  always  hear  him. 

Our  text  tells  us  of  a  man  who  called,  "Heal  me, 
for  my  bones  are  vexed."  Vex,  the  Httle  torment, 
had  taken  a  room  in  the  hollow  of  this  man's  bones. 
Cry  rolled  out  to  call  for  help.  A  man,  great  and 
good,  called  the  Nazarene,  sent  Sympathy  to  help 
all  that  Vex  annoyed.     This  friend.  Sympathy,  was 

125 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

very  sorry  for  the  man  whom  Vex  was  tormenting, 
and  decided  to  build  hospitals  for  all  in  whose  bones 
Vex  was  lodging.  One  of  these  hospitals  was  built 
near  our  church,  and  it  is  called  "Seney."  When 
any  one  says,  "Heal  me,  for  my  bones  are  vexed," 
we  ring  up  an  ambulance  and  hurry  him  to  the  hos- 
pital. There  he  is  cared  for,  and  Vex  is  taken  out 
of  his  bones.  Medicine  will  often  drive  Vex  out,  but 
sometimes  the  patient  must  be  put  to  sleep  while  the 
surgeon  takes  Vex  out  with  a  knife. 

What  do  you  suppose  becomes  of  Vex  when  he  is 
taken  out  of  his  lodging.?  This  is  the  question  I 
want  to  answer.  This  little  torment,  Vex,  is  changed 
into  a  song.  The  hospital  is  a  place  where  pain  is 
turned  into  praise  and  into  joy.  If  your  eyes  were 
brighter  you  would  behold  Vex,  Cry,  Pain,  Moan, 
and  Sorrow  flying  out  of  the  operating-room  and 
out  of  the  ward-rooms ;  flying  like  song-birds  into  the 
air.  If  your  ears  were  a  little  keener,  you  would  hear 
Vex  and  his  chorus  singing  as  they  fly.  The  angels 
can  see  them  fly,  and  can  hear  them  sing.  In  this 
Vex  hospital.  Sympathy  asks  you  to  furnish  more 
looms,  to  secure  more  doctors,  more  nurses,  and  more 
medicine.  Sympathy  wants  to  have  a  larger  place 
with  more  doctors  and  nurses,  so  that  every  day  he 

196 


THE  VEX  HOSPITAL 

can  change  Vex  and  Cry  into  song-birds  of  Joy  and 
Gladness.  A  little  fairy,  called  Parody,  says  that 
when  an  offering  is  received  for  a  hospital,  tkese 
birds  sing  the  offertory.  But  the  song  is  so  low  and 
sweet  that  only  little  children  can  hear  it.  Parody, 
my  little  fairy,  gave  me  the  words.  They  are  a  secret, 
but  I  want  you  to  know  them.    Here  they  are : 

Sing  a  song  of  sixpence, 

A  plate  full  of  cash, 
Four  and  twenty  Vex  cried. 

Cured  without  a  lash. 

When  the  hospital  was  opened. 

They  all  began  to  sing, 
"Was  not  that  a  splendid  gift. 

To  set  before  our  king." 

Do  I  hear  you  say,  "The  sermon  is  long  enough, 
now  tell  us  a  story?"  Very  well,  here  is  a  story  you 
will  all  enjoy.  There  is  a  man  in  Tacoma,  Wash., 
who  every  year  has  hundreds  of  birds  brought  to  his 
home  from  different  parts  of  this  country  and  from 
Europe.  In  large,  bright  rooms  they  are  taught  to 
sing  and  fly  through  the  house  until  their  songs  are 
sweet  and  their  wings  are  strong.  When  they  can 
sing  well  enough,  and  are  strong  enough,  he  opens 
the  windows  and  away  they  fly.  Linnets,  goldfinches, 
English  blackbirds,  and  the  many  song-birds  of  our 

127 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

country  go  out  from  his  bird  hospital  to  make  boys 
and  girls  happy.  Some  of  them  fly  very  liigh  and 
sing  half  to  the  angels  and  half  for  the  boys  and 
girls.  Last  spring  this  man,  whose  name  is  Dr. 
Charles  McCutcheon,  set  free  five  hundred  birds  of 
seven  varieties,  all  strong  of  wing  and  sweet  of  song. 
When  asked  why  he  did  this,  he  answered:  "Ever 
since  I  was  a  boy  in  England  I  have  dreamed  of  the 
days  when  I  rolled  upon  the  green  and  listened  to 
the  skylarks  and  finches.  I  always  said  I  would  have 
a  cage  of  these  birds  in  my  home.  But  it  is  a  sin  to 
confine  the  birds,  as  they  will  not  sing  as  sweetly 
as  they  do  in  the  open.  There  is  a  beauty  about  a 
landscape  that  has  its  song-birds  which  is  not  seen 
in  a  stretch  of  country  that  is  as  still  as  a  tomb." 
The  birds  are  made  happy  and  they  make  the  world 
happy.  Would  it  not  be  nice  to  fun-think  that  all 
these  song-birds  were  once  called  Vex,  Cry,  Pain, 
Sorrow,  Heartache,  and  other  like  names?  Then  to 
fun-think  that  all  these  torments  living  in  your  body 
can  be  set  free  as  song-birds  of  joy  and  gladness. 
Every  time  you  pass  a  hospital  think  of  it  as  a  great 
joy  house,  where  we  take  Vex  and  Pain,  Tears,  Sor- 
row and  Heartache,  and  change  them  into  smiles, 
joys,  health  and  happiness;  the  home  of  Sympathy, 

128 


THE  VEX  HOSPITAL 

where  we  take  scores  of  people  who  cry  out,  "Heal  me, 
for  my  bones  are  vexed."  Then  think  of  how  often 
the  windows  of  the  hospital  are  opened  and  from 
them  sorrow  and  pain  fly  out  as  song-birds  to  make 
the  world  happier  and  better. 


129 


FOB  TWELFTH  SUNDAY  IN  SUMMER 
A  GOOD   TELLTALE 

"Who  knoweth  the  interpretation  of  a  thing." — EccL,  viii.,  1 

WOULD  you  use  a  trunk  to  carry  a  note-book 
to  schooL^  You  would  laugh  at  any  one 
who  used  even  a  dress-suit  case  to  carry  a  pad  and 
lead-pencil.  The  words  in  our  text  are  too  large 
for  what  is  in  them.  You  do  not  need  a  trunk  to 
carry  your  pad  and  pencil,  neither  do  you  need  the 
large  words  of  this  text  to  carry  what  is  in  them. 
When  men  translated  the  Hebrew  into  English  they 
once  in  a  while  had  the  bad  habit  of  using  long 
words.  The  word  "knoweth"  is  too  long;  let  us  use 
the  shorter  word,  "knows."  "Who  knows  the  inter- 
pretation of  a  thing?"  "Interpretation"  is  cer- 
tainly too  long;  it  has  fourteen  letters.  The  word 
"explain"  has  the  same  meaning  and  just  half  the 
number  of  letters.  The  text  with  the  same  meaning, 
but  shorter  words,  reads,  "Who  knows  how  to  ex- 
plain a  thing.?" 

You  boys  would  laugh  if  I  said,  "Who  knoweth  the 
interpretation  of  this  game  called  marbles.?"     I  am 

130 


A  GOOD  TELLTALE 

sure  you  girls  would  laugh  if,  when  playing  jacks, 
I  said,  "Who  knoweth  the  interpretation  of  jacks?" 
If  I  asked,  "Who  knows  how  to  explain  this  game?" 
you  would  all  understand  me.  Our  text  asks,  "Who 
knows  how  to  explain  a  thing?"  You  do  not  know 
anything  real  well  until  you  can  tell  it  to  some  one. 
You  half  know  it,  and  telhng  gives  you  the  other 
half.  In  school  life  your  home  work  is  half  knowl- 
edge; reciting  the  lesson  to  the  teacher  gives  you 
the  other  half.  It  is  just  as  much  your  duty  to  tell 
what  you  know  as  it  is  to  know  what  you  tell.  We 
need  good  telltales. 

You  boys  and  girls  come  to  church  to  learn  about 
God  and  His  love.  You  want  to  know  if  He  loves 
you,  and  what  you  must  do  in  order  to  get  His  love 
into  your  heart.  This  is  but  half  of  the  knowledge. 
The  other  half  is  gained  when  you  tell  some  one  how 
God  got  His  love  into  your  heart,  and  how  you  got 
your  love  into  His  heart.  The  first  part  is  your 
church  work,  the  second  is  your  recitation  work. 
You  really  do  not  know  the  love  of  God  until  you  are 
able  to  tell  some  other  person  about  how  it  feels  to 
have  God  love  you,  and  how  it  feels  to  love  God. 
You  do  not  have  your  school  lesson  until  you  give 
it  to  your  teacher.     You  do  not  have  your  church 

131 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

lesson  until  you  give  it  to  some  one.  It  is  strange, 
but  true,  that  there  are  some  things  you  do  not  pos- 
sess until  you  give  them  away.  Get  your  knowledge 
of  God  and  of  His  love  into  short  words  and  tell  it 
to  some  one,  to  every  one  with  whom  you  talk. 

I  have  not  given  you  all  of  our  text,  "Who  knoweth 
the  interpretation  of  a  thing?  A  man's  wisdom 
maketh  his  face  to  shine,  and  the  boldness  of  his  face 
is  changed."  Boldness  means  pride  and  selfishness. 
Your  face  shines  and  you  are  happy  when  you  ex- 
plain something  that  makes  others  happy.  The  hap- 
piest people  are  those  who  do  the  most  to  make  others 
happy.  Happiness  takes  the  boldness  out  of  the 
face.  You  can  make  people  very  happy  by  telling 
them  what  you  know  about  the  love  of  God.  You 
may  make  them  very  unhappy  by  not  telling  them. 
We  sin  by  not  telling  a  truth  as  surely  as  we  sin  by 
telling  an  untruth.  Now,  I  shall  tell  you  a  story  of 
how  a  man  kept  another  from  being  happy  by  not 
being  a  good  telltale. 

One  of  the  governors  of  Virginia  at  the  close  of 
his  term  went  to  Palm  Beach,  Florida,  for  rest  and 
recreation.  He  tells  about  his  first  and  only  night 
at  that  beautiful  resting-place.  When  he  arrived,  he 
was  going  to  ask  for  a  room — one  not  too  expensive 

132 


A  GOOD  TELLTALE 

for  his  purse.  Before  he  had  time  to  do  this  he  was 
hurried  off  to  the  elevator,  taken  up-stairs,  and 
shown  to  a  gorgeous  suite  of  rooms.  On  the  door  he 
saw  this  notice:  "The  price  of  these  rooms  is  one 
hundred  dollars  per  day."  The  governor  had  not 
saved  enough  out  of  his  salary  to  pay  such  a  large 
price  and  he  was  ashamed  to  go  down  and  ask  for 
cheaper  rooms.  He  was  so  much  troubled  about  the 
price  that  it  kept  him  awake  most  of  the  night.  He 
kept  working  on  the  problem,  "If  this  suite  of  rooms 
costs  one  hundred  dollars  for  one  day,  how  much 
will  it  cost  for  one  night  .'^"     What  was  he  to  do.f^ 

Early  the  next  morning  he  went  down  to  the  of- 
fice and  told  the  clerk  that  he  was  obliged  to  leave 
on  the  next  train.  The  clerk  was  very  much  sur- 
prized and  told  the  governor  that  all  the  people 
would  be  disappointed  as  they  expected  him  to  remain 
for  six  weeks.  But  the  governor  said  he  must  leave 
on  the  next  train — urgent  business.  The  governor 
.vas  whispering  to  himself:  "If  these  rooms  cost  one 
hundred  dollars  for  one  day,  what  will  they  cost  for 
six  weeks?"  He  tried  to  look  rich  and  asked  for 
his  bill.  The  clerk  did  not  give  him  a  bill,  so  he  asked 
for  it  a  second  time.  "Oh,  that's  all  right;  there  is 
no  bill,"  replied  the  clerk.       "The    proprietor  left 

133 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

orders,  as  soon  as  he  heard  you  were  coming,  that  you 
were  to  have  that  suite  of  rooms,  and  that  there  was 
to  be  no  charge  whether  you  remained  for  one  day  or 
for  six  weeks.  We  are  only  sorry  that  you  can't  re- 
main." The  owner  of  the  hotel  had  love  for  the 
governor,  and  was  trying  to  get  his  love  into  the  gov- 
ernor's heart.  The  clerk  knew  all  about  this  love, 
and  he  could  have  and  should  have  explained  it  to  the 
governor.  The  governor  was,  therefore,  made  very 
unhappy  for  one  night,  and  lost  all  the  happiness  of 
six  weeks.  The  clerk  had  not  been  "wise,"  his  face 
did  not  "shine,"  the  "boldness"  was  not  changed. 
"Who  knows  how  to  explain  a  thing?"  The  clerk 
was  not  a  good  telltale.  Do  my  Juniors  know  the 
meaning  of  our  word  "gospel."  It  means  good  news. 
Some  one  needs  the  gospel  to  make  him  happy.  Are 
you  a  good  telltale.'' 


134 


FOR  THIRTEENTH  SUNDAY  IN  SUMMER 
HEARTSICK  AND   HOMESICK 

"We  hanged  our  harps  upon  the  willows." — Psalms  cxxxvii.,  2 

THESE  harp-hangers  had  heart  trouble.  They 
were  homesick.  It  was  very  mean  of  their 
enemies  to  ask  them  to  sing  home  songs  when  they 
were  homesick.  We  do  not  find  fault  with  them  for 
hanging  up  their  harps  and  refusing  to  sing.  They 
said:  "How  shall  we  sing  the  Lord's  song  in  a 
strange  land.'"'    Whittier  writes: 

The  homesick  dreamer's  brow  is  nightly  fanned 
By  breezes  of  his  native  land. 

I  can  almost  hear  you  ask:  "Why  did  they  hang 
their  harps  on  the  willow-trees.'^"  I  do  not  know 
why.  Possibly  they  were  weeping  willows.  It  would 
be  interesting  to  know  all  about  these  trees,  but  there 
is  something  in  this  story  more  important  for  you 
and  me  than  the  harps  and  willows.  Here  were  men, 
women  and  children  refusing  to  sing  because  they 
were  homesick.  They  were  God's  people,  carried  away 
as  captives  into  a  strange  land.  The  children  were 
crying  and  sobbing.     They  wanted    to    go    home. 

135 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

Their  ancestors  in  the  wilderness  were  homesick  for 
leeks  and  onions.  We  laugh  at  them  for  wanting 
leeks  and  onions,  but  we  do  not  laugh  at  these  good 
people  who  hung  their  harps  on  the  willows.  They 
were  homesick  for  Zion — their  church  home.  It  was 
a  case  of  church-homesickness.  In  the  home  city, 
Jerusalem,  was  a  beautiful  temple,  with  grand  music, 
where  they  had  met  every  week  to  worship  God. 
They  were  homesick  for  their  church. 

If  you  boys  and  girls  were  carried  away  as  slaves 
into  a  strange  country  and  made  to  work  hard  all 
week,  you  would  be  very  homesick  on  Sunday  morning 
for  your  church  and  Junior  Congregation.  Home- 
sick for  your  church,  I  am  sure  you  would  not  want 
to  sing  your  church  songs  for  those  who  were  making 
fun  of  you.  You  would  be  looking  for  weeping 
willows  upon  which  to  hang  your  mandolins.  If  you 
were  away  and  homesick  for  your  Junior  church,  I 
would  be  both  sorry  and  glad.  Sorry  that  you  were 
church-homesick,  and  glad  that  you  loved  your 
church  enough  to  be  homesick.  I  believe  God  would 
be  sorry  and  glad;  very,  very  sorry  and  very,  very 
glad. 

Satan  is  your  enemy.  He  is  trying  to  carry  you 
136 


HEARTSICK  AND  HOMESICK 

away  from  your  church  and  to  make  you  a  slave  to 
some  sin.  "Sabbath-breaking"  is  a  far  country  into 
which  he  carries  many  children  on  Sunday  in  auto- 
mobiles. Please  do  not  look  so  sad.  Father  and 
mother  will  come  to  church  with  you  and  will  help 
us  to  keep  Satan  from  tearing  you  away  into  slavery. 
Cheer  up!  Look  happy!  There  is  another  far- 
away country  into  which  Satan  carries  children.  It 
is  a  country  where  there  are  no  weeping  willows.  It 
is  a  country  where  there  are  no  weeping  willows.  It  is 
the  Land  of  Nod,  where  they  do  not  weep,  but  sleep, 
the  land  where  people  get  tired  when  they  have  noth- 
ing to  do.  I  shall  tell  you  a  story.  The  story  is  an 
old  legend  about  a  wonderful  bell  in  the  town  of 
Lenz. 

The  King  of  France  was  passing  through  the  town 
and  heard  the  sweet,  mellow  tones  of  the  bell  floating 
out  from  the  old  church-spire.  Pigeons  nesting  near 
the  bell  flew  out  when  it  began  to  ring.  The  king, 
seeing  the  pigeons,  thought  of  them  as  notes  of 
music  opening  and  floating  out  from  the  spire  and 
lighting  upon  the  homes  of  the  happy  people  of 
Lenz.  Out  from  these  homes  the  king  saw  fathers 
and  mothers  with  merry  children  wending  their  way 

137 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

to  the  church,  the  bell  chiming,  the  pigeons  flying, 
and  the  children  almost  dancing  with  joy. 

The  king  determined  to  have  the  bell  removed  to 
Paris,  where  he  could  hear  it  every  day.  Down  from 
the  church-spire  the  bell  was  carried  to  the  tower  of 
the  king's  palace.  The  legend  says  that  the  bell  re- 
fused to  ring  for  the  king.  The  best  bell-ringers  of 
the  city  tried  it,  coaxed  it,  but  failed  to  make  it  ring. 
Bell-founders  from  Hungary  and  Vienna  were  sum- 
moned, but  their  efforts  also  failed. 

The  king,  fearing  that  some  harm  might  come  to 
him  for  keeping  the  bell  against  its  will,  sent  it  back 
to  Lenz.  It  made  the  journey  in  a  cart,  drawn  by 
twenty  horses.  As  it  drew  near  its  old  home  it  began 
to  ring  of  its  own  accord.  So  loudly  and  clearly  did 
it  ring  that  the  town-folks  heard  it  when  it  was  yet 
six  miles  away.  The  pigeons  flew  in  ever-widening 
circles  around  the  spire,  their  white  wings  gleaming 
in  the  sunshine.  Children,  drest  in  white,  went  out 
to  meet  the  bell,  singing  its  welcome  home.  The  bell 
had  been  homesick  for  its  church  and  now  rang  more 
sweetly  than  ever  before — it  was  so  glad  to  get 
home. 

At  midnight  a  strange  sound  woke  all  the  children 
138 


HEARTSICK  AND  HOMESICK 

of  Lenz.     The  old  bell  in  the  church-spire  was  ring- 
ing: 

'Mid  pleasures  and  palaces  tho  we  may  roam, 
Be  it  ever  so  humble,  there's  no  place  like  home. 

A  charm  from  the  skies  seems  to  hallow  us  there. 
Which,  seek  thro'  the  world,  is  never  met  elsewhere. 

Home,  home,  sweet,  sweet  home. 
There's  no  place  like  home,  there's  no  place  like  home. 

"Homesick"  is  God's  medicine  to  bring  us  home. 


139 


AUTUMN 

{September  21st-Decemher  20th) 

THE    SONG   OF   THE   WIND 

I've  a  great  deal  to  do,  a  great  deal  to  do, 

Don't  speak  to  me,  children,  I  pray ; 
These  little  boys'  hats  must  be  blown  off  their  heads, 

And  these  little  girls'  bonnets  away. 

There  are  bushels  of  apples  to  gather  to-day. 

And  O !  there's  no  end  to  the  nuts ; 
Over  many  long  roads  I  must  traverse  away. 

And  many  by-lanes  and  short-cuts. 

— Selected. 


141 


FOR  FIRST  SUNDAY  IN  AUTUMN 
CANNED  SUNSHINE 

"We  love  Him  because  He  first  loved  us." — 1  John  iv.,  19 

MOTHER  is  in  the  kitchen,  canning."  That 
is  what  Helen  said  when  I  called  at  the 
farm.  It  was  a  beautiful  autumn  day,  the  trees  were 
loaded  with  fruit,  the  vines  were  bending  with  great 
clusters  of  grapes,  and  the  farm  looked  like  Para- 
dise. Mother  was  busy  canning  peaches  and  pears. 
Into  jars  she  put  them  and  sealed  them  safe  from  air 
and  germs.  On  a  shelf  was  a  long  row  of  cans  look- 
ing like  pictures  of  dinners  in  glass  frames.  "But  why 
trouble  about  canning  a  few  peaches  and  pears  when 
you  could  gather  bushels  from  the  trees?"  I  asked. 
Helen  smiled  and  answered,  "These  are  for  winter  din- 
ners." Then  she  opened  the  pantry-door  and  showed 
me  the  preserves — quince  and  apple-butter,  pure 
grape- juice  and  jams — cans,  cans,  cans  on  all  the 
stands.  Beautiful  autumn  canned  for  winter.  Helen 
said  they  were  winners.  I  am  going  to  accept  Helen's 
invitation  to  a  winter  dinner  of  canned  autumn. 

143 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

Suppose  your  teacher  were  to  hold  up  before  you 
a  lump  of  coal  and  ask,  "What  is  it?"  What  would 
be  your  answer?  "A  lump  of  coal  is  canned  sun- 
shine." You  could  not  give  a  better  answer.  Long 
ago  plants  and  trees  gathered  sunshine,  preserved 
it  and  hid  it  deep  in  the  earth.  We  now  take  it  out 
in  black  lumps,  or  cans,  that  we  call  "coal."  When 
we  warm  up  the  coal,  out  comes  the  sunshine  to  light 
and  warm  our  homes.  A  lump  of  coal  is  an  old, 
black  can  full  of  sunshine.  In  the  ash-can  is  what  is 
left  when  the  sunshine  is  taken  out.  Thousands  of 
years  ago  God,  like  a  loving  mother,  canned  this  sun- 
shine for  you  and  me.  Some  rich  men  propose  to 
erect  a  monument  of  coal  to  Philip  Ginter. 

One  hundred  and  nine  years  ago  Ginter  lived  in 
a  rough  cabin  in  the  forests  of  Mauch  Chunk  Moun- 
tain. While  in  quest  of  game  for  his  family,  whom 
he  had  left  at  home  without  food  of  any  kind,  his 
foot  struck  a  black  stone.  By  the  roadside,  not  far 
from  the  town  of  Summit  Hill,  he  built  a  fire  of  wood 
and  threw  pieces  of  the  supposed  stone  about  it,  so 
that  the  embers  might  last  longer  while  he  was  roast- 
ing a  fowl.  He  was  surprized  after  a  little  while  to 
see  the  stones  glow  and  retain  their  heat  for  a  long 
time.     He  carried  a  lot  of  the  coal  home  and  burned 

144 


CANNED  SUNSHINE 

it  there.  A  monument  to  the  man  who  discovered 
canned  sunshine. 

On  one  side  of  the  monument  they  should  put  the 
name  GOD,  who  canned  the  sunshine  Ginter  dis- 
covered. 

Now,  I  have  a  question  for  you  to  answer.  "Why 
is  love  like  a  lump  of  coal?"  Because  love  is  canned 
sunshine.  The  heart  is  a  vessel  that  God  fills  with 
love.  When  we  "warm  up"  to  any  one,  the  can  opens, 
and  love  shines  out  to  brighten  and  warm  his  life. 
A  heart  may  be  black  and  cold  like  a  lump  of  coal, 
but  inside  there  is  love.  Religion  opens  the  heart 
and  lets  the  sunshine  out.  If  you  want  to  get  light 
and  heat  out  of  a  lump  of  coal  you  put  it  into  the 
fire.  If  you  want  to  get  love  out  of  a  soul,  you  must 
put  that  soul  into  the  light  and  heat  of  friendship 
and  kindness. 

A  little  boy  declared  that  he  loved  his  mother 
"with  all  his  strength,"  and  he  was  asked  to  explain 
what  he  meant  by  the  expression.  After  some  little 
time  spent  in  reflection,  he  said :  "Well,  I'll  tell  you. 
You  see,  we  hve  up  here  on  the  fourth  floor  of  this 
tenement,  and  there's  no  elevator,  and  the  coal  is 
kept  'way  down  in  the  basement.  Mother  is  dread- 
fully busy  all  the  time,  and  she  isn't  very  strong,  so 

14)5 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

I  see  to  it  that  the  coal-hod  is  never  empty.  I  kig 
all  the  coal  up  four  flights  all  by  myself,  and  the 
hod  is  pretty  big.  It  takes  all  my  strength  to  get  it 
up  here.  Now,  isn't  that  loving  mother  with  all  my 
strength?" 

The  boy's  heart  was  open,  and  the  sunshine  of  love 
came  out.  Once  he  was  a  cross  and  crying  baby. 
His  mother  took  him  to  the  warm  heart  of  her  love, 
loved  him  and  loved  him,  until  she  opened  his  heart. 
He  loved  his  mother  because  she  first  loved  him. 

At  a  great  exposition  it  was  the  custom  for  the 
people  to  sign  their  names  in  the  different  State 
buildings.  People  who  registered  were  asked  to  give 
their  occupations,  so  that  the  books  read  Hke  this: 
"John  Smith,  carpenter" ;  "Thomas  Brown,  farmer." 
A  little  golden-haired  girl  asked  if  she  might  register. 
She  was  told  to  write  her  name  and  occupation.  This 
is  what  she  wrote :  "Mary  Jones,  help  mama." 

Christ  came  into  this  world  with  all  the  love  of 
heaven  in  His  heart  for  you  and  me.  When  we  come 
close  to  Him  our  hearts  open  and  let  love  out.  Our 
hearts  are  opened  because  His  heart  was  first  opened 
for  us.  "We  love  Him  because  he  first  loved  us." 
He  died  for  us,  so  great  was  His  love.  Here  is  a 
story : 

146 


CANNED  SUNSHINE 

In  a  storm  off  the  New  England  coast  a  few  years 
ago  a  vessel  was  wrecked.  It  was  impossible  for  the 
life-saving  service  to  reach  the  drowning  passengers 
and  seamen.  At  last  one  of  the  men  began  to  drift 
toward  the  shore.  A  line  of  life-savers  was  imme- 
diately formed,  stretching  out  toward  him  into  the 
sea.  The  drifting  man  came  nearer  and  nearer,  until 
the  life-saver  at  the  end  of  the  line  was  able  to  reach 
him  and  pass  him  back  along  the  line.  He  reached 
the  shore  in  safety. 

The  life-saver,  in  loosing  his  hand  to  catch  the  man 
who  was  floating  in  from  the  wreck,  was  dragged  off 
his  feet  by  the  undertow,  carried  out  to  sea,  and 
drowned.  The  rescued  man  was  sick  for  weeks  with 
a  raging  fever.  When  he  finally  recovered  a  pecu- 
liarity was  noticed  in  his  talk.  No  matter  to  whom 
he  spoke,  or  what  the  topic  of  conversation,  he  al- 
ways closed  by  repeating,  "A  man  died  for  me  once ! 
A  man  died  for  me  once!"  He  never  forgot  it.  He 
wanted  others  to  know  it. 

Love  is  canned  sunshine.  Youth  is  the  time  to  fill 
your  heart  with  love.  Then  when  you  grow  older 
and  sickness  and  trouble  come,  you  can  open  a  can 
to  brighten  your  life. 


147 


THE  SECOND  SUNDAY  IN  AUTUMN 
JACK  TAR,  JR. 

"I  know." — Revelation  xi.,  19 

"  T  ACK  TAR"  is  a  nickname  for  sailors.  In  the 
tJ  early  times  they  used  to  make  their  clothing 
water-proof  by  coating  it  with  tar.  They,  there- 
fore, called  a  sailor  an  "Old  Tar."  But  under  "Jack 
Tar's"  water-proof  jacket  was  a  good,  warm  heart. 
On  the  Half  Moon  was  a  "Jack  Tar,  Jr."  His 
real  name  was  John  Hudson.  The  first  time  that  we 
hear  of  "Jack  Tar,  Jr.,"  was  on  April  6,  1607.  He 
was  at  church  and  at  the  communion-table.  He  was 
a  whole  Junior  Congregation.  The  old  record  tells 
of  certain  seamen  at  St.  Ethelburga's  Church,  in 
Bishop's  Gate  Street,  London.  This  was  their  last 
Sunday  on  land,  "purposing  to  go  to  sea  four  days 
after."  I  want  you  to  notice  how  the  roll  reads: 
"Henry  Hudson,  master;  William  Colines,  mate; 
eleven  members  of  the  crew,  and  John  Hudson,  boy." 
Some  one  has  said :  "We  point  with  grateful  appre- 
ciation to  the  honored  explorer  with  his  son  and  his 

148 


JACK  TAR,  JR. 

crew  kneeling  at  the  Lord's  table  to  receive  the  holy 
sacrament.  It  is  a  touch  that  joins  the  valiant  souls 
who,  in  the  ages  past,  believed  in  the  Lord  Jesus  and 
gave  outward  expression  of  that  faith  with  those  who 
do  likewise  to-day ;  a  link  by  which  living  and  dead, 
they  of  the  past  and  they  of  the  present,  are  united 
in  one  mystical  communion  and  fellowship.  St. 
Ethelburga  in  Bishop's  Gate  Street  still  stands.  It 
is  there  that  they  who  venerate  the  discoverer's 
memory  may  pass  through  the  very  doorway  and 
stand  within  the  very  walls,  beneath  the  very  roof 
that  sheltered  him  w'hen  he  and  his  ship's  company 
joined  together  in  the  most  solemn  worship  of  our 
religion  more  than  three  hundred  years  ago." 

"Jack  Tar,  Jr.,"  a  charter  member  of  our  Junior 
Congregation.  Four  days  after  this  communion  he 
was  on  the  deck,  sailing  into  the  shadows  of  the  un- 
known— no  playmates,  no  one  with  whom  to  plan 
pranks,  no  other  boy  with  whom  to  share  the  blame, 
no  girl  friends  to  see  and  admire  him  when  he 
climbed  the  mainmast,  no  more  school,  no  more 
church,  no  mother  to  bathe  his  tired  feet  and  to  kiss 
away  his  aches  and  pains. 

The  upper  end  of  our  great  Hudson  River  should 
be  called  "Hudson,  Jr."     I  believe  that  he  saw  the 

149 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

river  first.  Boys  usually  see  things  first.  An  Indian 
swam  under  the  Half  Moon  and  tried  to  upset  it. 
Surely,  the  boy  first  saw  him  and  laughed  at  the 
foolish  Indian  until  he  had  to  roll  on  the  deck  to  rest. 
One  of  the  lifeboats  of  the  Hendrik  Hudson  should 
be  named  "Jack  Tar,  Jr."  He  cheered  his  father 
when  lonely  and  discouraged,  kept  the  sailors  from 
being  homesick  for  lack  of  time  to  think,  and  caught 
and  cooked  the  best  fish  in  the  river.  Yet  there  is 
nothing  in  the  history  about  him  save  "John  Hud- 
son, a  boy." 

To-day  some  of  the  best  and  bravest  people  in  the 
world  are  boys  and  girls.  This  fall  scores  of  boys 
and  girls  could  not  go  back  to  their  playmates  and 
playgrounds,  to  their  teachers  and  their  schools.  A 
few  days  ago  I  attended  a  father's  funeral.  On  the 
way  to  the  cemetery  I  asked  one  of  the  boys  if  he 
was  in  school.  He  said  that  he  was  in  high-school 
and  had  expected  to  graduate  in  February,  but  must 
now  go  to  work  and  help  mother. 

There  is  no  record  on  earth  about  "Jack  Tar,  Jr.," 
but  there  is  a  record  in  heaven;  no  record  on  earth 
about  boys  and  girls  who  give  up  play  and  school  and 
bright  hopes  in  order  to  help  pay  rent  and  to  keep 
food  on  the  table.     Some  one  knows.     Our  text  says, 

150 


JACK  TAR,  JR. 

"I  know."  Who  knows?  God,  who  knows  all  things. 
What  does  He  know.^^  "I  know  thy  works  and  love 
and  service  and  faith  and  thy  patience."  Some  day 
our  Father  will  reward  you  boys  and  girls  who  love 
and  serve — "John  Hudson,  a  boy,"  at  church  at  the 
Lord's  Supper  with  the  grown  people.  If  you,  my 
boys  and  girls,  have  sorrows  and  burdens,  remember 
the  Lord's  Supper  is  the  place  to  get  strength  to 
bear  them. 

Now,  are  you  ready  to  go  home  ?  No !  Why  ? 
"A  story  in  which  to  carry  the  sermon .?"    Here  it  is : 

John  L.  Clem,  the  famous  "drummer-boy  of  the 
Shiloh,"  at  the  close  of  the  war  went  to  see  General 
Grant.  The  President  asked:  "What  can  I  do  for 
you?"  "Mr.  President,"  said  Clem,  "I  want  to  ask 
you  for  an  order  to  admit  me  to  West  Point."  "But 
why  do  you  not  take  the  examination?"  "I  did,  Mr. 
President,  but  I  failed  to  pass."  "That  was  unfor- 
tunate. How  was  that?"  "Why,  Mr.  President,  you 
see,  I  was  in  the  war,  and  while  I  was  there  those  other 
boys  of  my  age  were  in  school."  "What !"  exclaimed 
the  President  amazed,  "you  were  in  the  war !"  "Yes, 
Mr.  President,  I  was  in  the  war  four  years."  He  re- 
lated his  experience,  and  the  President  then  wrote 
something,  sealed  it,  and,  handing  it  to  Clem,  said: 

151 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

"Take  this  to  the  Secretary  of  War.  I  guess  it  will 
fix  you  all  right."  Clem  went  to  the  Secretary  and 
delivered  the  note.  The  Secretary  read  it  and  said: 
"Do  you  know  what  this  is?"  "No,"  repHed  Clem, 
"but  I  hope  that  it  is  an  order  to  admit  me  to  West 
Point."  "Well,  it  isn't,"  returned  the  Secretary; 
"it's  an  order  to  commission  you  second  lieutenant  in 
the  regular  army." 

When  the  President  was  asked  why  he  gave  Clem 
the  position  without  a  West  Point  diploma,  he  said, 
"I  know."  He  knew  Clem's  work  and  love  and 
service  for  and  faith  in  his  country.  Colonel  John 
J.  Clem  is  now  assistant  quartermaster-general  in  the 
regular  army.  Our  Father  overlooks  some  of  your 
faults,  but  he  underlooks,  remembers  and  rewards 
every  noble  act,  every  sacrifice  that  you  make. 


152 


FOB  THIRD  SUNDAY  IN  AUTUMN 
DIEGO,  THE  DAGO 

"That  which  hath  wings  will  tell  the  matter." — Eccl.,  x.,  20 

THE  world  would  soon  lose  its  whirl  without 
our  girl.  Life  would  be  sad  without  our  lad. 
Girls  and  lads  enjoy  a  holiday.  Wednesday  will  be 
their  delight — Columbus  day,  a  legal  holiday.  The 
boys  and  girls  of  only  four  other  States — Connec- 
ticut, Montana,  Maryland,  and  Colorado — have  this 
holiday.  You  owe  ''Columbus  day"  to  a  boy,  Diego, 
and  some  birds.  There  was  a  boy  on  the  Half  Moon, 
a  boy  on  the  Mayflower,  and  there  was  a  boy,  Diego, 
on  the  deck  with  Columbus.  His  father  had  a  vision. 
He  believed  there  was  a  great  country  to  the  west- 
ward on  which  he  should  plant  the  cross.  He  was 
very  poor,  and  the  King  of  Italy  would  not  give  him 
ships  with  which  to  find  the  new  world.  With  Diego, 
his  little  motherless  boy,  he  went  to  Genoa.  There 
the  people  thought  he  was  crazy  and  refused  to  help 
him.  Columbus  then  went  to  Spain.  One  day,  tired 
and  footsore,  he  stopt  at  a  convent  to  beg  some 
bread  for  his  child.     The  superior  of  the  convent  was 

153 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

interested  in  the  boy  and  talked  with  his  father.  As 
a  result  of  the  conversation,  Columbus  was  introduced 
to  the  King  and  Queen  of  Spain. 

Seven  years  later,  with  three  small  boats,  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  men  and  the  boy,  he  sailed  in  search 
of  his  vision.  "In  1492  Columbus  crossed  the  waters 
blue."  This  is  true,  but  we  must  not  forget  Diego, 
too.  After  a  long,  stormy  voyage  over  an  unknown 
sea,  they  sailed  near  to  land.  Driftwood  and  land- 
birds  were  seen.  To  them  it  was  clear  that  land  was 
near.  A  short  time,  in  the  direction  they  were  sail- 
ing, would  have  brought  them  to  what  is  now  North 
Carolina.  This  country  would  then  have  been  Span- 
ish. American  children  would  be  Spaniards.  Our 
country  would  be  like  South  America.  Why  did 
Columbus  not  sail  right  on  to  North  America?  A 
flock  of  birds  were  flying  southwest.  I  believe  the  boy 
saw  them  first.  Columbus  decided  to  follow  the  birds. 
They  led  him  to  the  West  Indies.  God  wanted  the 
Dutch  to  come  here  first — to  bring  us  a  free  govern- 
ment and  the  public  schools.  God  used  the  birds. 
"That  which  hath  wings  will  tell  the  matter."  Did 
you  ever  thank  God  for  birds? 

Here  are  two  thoughts  for  you  to  keep.  First, 
God  used  the  boy,  Diego,  when  He  was  ready  to  have 

154 


DIEGO,  THE  DAGO 

America  discovered.  Diego  came  to  be  a  very  com- 
mon name  with  Italians,  like  our  John  or  Will.  The 
English  sailors,  often  hearing  them  say  Diego,  called 
them  all  Dago.  When  you  get  "dago"  in  your 
mouth,  stop  and  think  that  Diego,  the  dago,  really 
discovered  America  for  you.  The  first  boy  in  Amer- 
ica was  an  Indian ;  the  second,  an  Italian ;  the  third, 
Dutch.  You  came  late  and  should  not  hate.  Second, 
God  rules  and  can  use  not  only  a  boy  but  a  bird  to 
carry  out  His  plans.  Man  can  use  carrier-pigeons  to 
carry  his  messages.  "That  which  hath  wings  will 
tell  the  matter." 

As  I  gave  you  two  thoughts,  I  must  give  you  two 
stories. 

In  East  Africa  there  is  a  winged  messenger  called 
the  honey-bird.  It  loves  honey.  When  it  finds  a  tree 
where  wild  bees  are  storing  their  sweets,  it  will  chatter 
and  fly  about  until  some  one  follows  it  to  the  tree. 
It  wants  the  honey  the  man  will  help  it  to  get.  Rev. 
Dr.  W.  S.  Rainsford  writes  about  this  honey-bird : 

"I  think  I  must  have  followed  the  bird  certainly 
more  than  a  dozen  times,  and  it  never  once  failed  to 
lead  me  straight  to  the  honey-tree.  I  had  followed 
one  bird  for  many  hundreds  of  yards.  It  would  wait 
for  me,  and  while  it  was  waiting  it  would  never  cease 

155 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

to  utter  its  sharp,  chirping  cry.  Once  I  was  up,  it 
would  go  on  again." 

The  other  story  is  nearer  home.  This  summer  your 
pastor  followed  Peter's  advice  and  went  fishing.  He 
found  two  men  who,  like  Peter's  companions,  were 
truthful  and  skilful  fishermen.  Into  the  blue  sky 
they  would  look  for  bluefish.  At  first  the  idea  made 
your  pastor  laugh  behind  his  mustache.  But  soon  he 
was  looking  up  and  asking  the  sea-gulls  where  to  find 
the  fish.  That  which  hath  wings  told  us  where  to 
find  them.  One  day  we  saw  the  gulls  standing  in 
line  on  the  shore  like  soldiers  waiting  for  the  battle 
call.  The  fishermen  said  there  is  no  use  of  wetting 
our  lines  until  the  gulls  show  us  where  to  fish.  When 
I  found  this  was  true,  I  remembered  Psalm  116:  11. 
Dr.  Henry  Van  Dyke  writes:  "Where  bluefish  are 
found  the  gulls  are  often  useful  guides  to  the  fisher- 
man. When  he  sees  a  great  flock  of  them  fluttering 
over  the  water,  he  suspects  that  the  objects  of  his  pur- 
suit are  there,  feeding  from  below  on  the  squid,  on 
which  the  gulls  are  feeding  from  above.  So  the 
fisherman  sails  as  fast  as  possible  in  that  direction, 
wishing  to  drag  his  trolls  through  the  school  of  fish 
while  they  are  still  hungry." 

God  wants  us  to  use  his  messengers  as  our  servants. 
156 


FOR   FOURTH  SUNDAY  IN  AUTUMN 
THE    SHADOW-CHILD 

"My  days  are  like  a  shadow  that  declineth." — Psalms  cii.,  11 

DO  you  want  to  hear  a  weird  story  of  the  shadow- 
child?  No  one  knows  when  and  where  he  was 
born,  nor  when  and  where  he  died.  His  history  is 
hid  behind  a  shadow.  He  had  a  home  somewhere,  no 
one  knows  where.  He  went  to  school  and  was  well 
educated — where,  no  one  knows.  His  days  were  like 
a  shadow.  Behind  the  shadow  he  grew  into  man- 
hood. One  day  he  came  out  from  the  shadow,  and  for 
four  years  he  searched  for  one  thing,  but  never  found 
it.  That  for  which  he  sought  was  hid  behind  a 
shadow. 

Long  before  white  men  came  to  live  in  this  country 
the  shadow-child  came  hunting  for  something  that 
he  did  not  find.  The  Indians  saw  a  strange  some- 
thing swimming  or  floating  and  nearing  the  land. 
They  thought  that  it  was  a  spirit  coming  to  them 
from  another  world.     It  was  the  shadow-child,  who 

157 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

remained  for  a  few  days,  gave  the    Indians    many 
presents,  then  rode  away  on  the  moon. 

During  the  four  years  that  he  Hved  out  of  the 
shadow  he  appeared  at  different  places,  looking  for 
that  one  thing  he  could  not  find.  Then  he  suddenly 
dropt  behind  a  big,  black  shadow,  and  no  one  knows 
where  he  went.  No  one  can  find  his  grave,  but  you 
can  see  one  of  his  monuments.  It  is  the  highest 
monument  In  New  York,  nearly  four  thousand  feet. 
It  is  more  permanent  and  enduring  than  granite, 
but  it  is  always  moving.  For  one  hundred  and 
seventy-five  miles  it  moves  twice  a  day  in  opposite 
directions,  but  3^ou  can  always  find  It  at  the  same 
place.  Once  a  day  this  monument  Is  hid  under  a 
shadow. 

The  shadow-child's  name  Is  Henry  Hudson.  He 
came  here  searching  for  a  passageway  to  China.  He 
sailed  up  the  river  as  far  as  Albany,  thinking  that  he 
could  go  on  to  China.  This  river,  the  Hudson,  Is 
now  his  monument,  reaching  from  New  York  Bay  to 
the  Adirondack  Mountains,  four  thousand  feet  above 
New  York.  Along  this  river  monument  the  tide  ebbs 
and  flows  twice  each  day  as  far  as  Troy,  one  hundred 
and  seventy-five  miles.  Once  each  day  it  is  hid  under 
the  shadow  of  night. 

158 


THE  SHADOW  CHILD 

In  the  fall  of  1909  we  celebrated  the  three-hun- 
dredth anniversary  of  Henry  Hudson's  coming  to 
and  going  from  this  river.  He  did  not  go  away  on 
the  moon  in  the  sky,  but  in  the  Half  Moon  on  the  sea. 
Later,  when  he  was  again  searching  for  a  sea-road 
to  China,  some  bad  men  tied  his  hands  and  feet  and 
threw  him  into  a  little  boat  that  was  left  to  drift  out 
into  a  big,  black  shadow.  From  this  shadow  he  never 
returned.  His  life  seemed  to  be  a  failure.  He  did 
not  find  what  he  was  looking  for.  It  was  hid  behind 
a  shadow.  Would  you  like  to  be  a  shadow-child? 
I  hear  you  say,  "No !  no !  no !  I  do  not  want  my  days 
to  be  like  a  shadow." 

There  is  another  shadow-child  whose  life  is  more 
interesting  and  his  work  much  greater  than  Henry 
Hudson's.  A  few  days  after  He  was  born  He  was 
carried  behind  a  shadow,  and  we  know  nothing  about 
Him  for  twelve  years.  Then  we  see  Him  for  but  one 
day.  Again  He  is  hid  behind  a  shadow,  and  we  do 
not  see  nor  hear  from  Him  for  eighteen  years.  He 
is  thirty  years  of  age  before  we  see  Him  for  more 
than  a  few  hours. 

When  we  see  Him,  like  the  other  shadow-child.  He 
is  standing  by  a  great  river,  the  River  Jordan.  Do 
you  know  His  name.?     His  name  is  Jesus.     He,  too, 

159 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

was  searching  for  a  road  around  the  world.  He 
wanted  to  save  all  the  people  on  the  earth.  For 
three  years  He  worked  in  the  light — the  light  of  His 
love.  He  worked  to  save  you  and  me,  and  then 
passed  into  the  "valley  of  the  shadow  of  death." 
His  life  seemed  to  be  a  failure.  It  was  hid  behind  a 
shadow. 

He  has  a  monument  that  is  to  be  the  longest  and 
highest  in  the  world.  It  is  to  reach  from  earth  to 
heaven.  This  monument  God  asks  you  to  help  in 
building.  It  is  the  Lord's  Supper — "do  this  in  re- 
membrance of  Me."  Ask  your  parents  how  you  can 
help  to  build  this  monument. 

I  told  you  some  things  about  Hudson's  monument 
that  seemed  impossible — running  in  opposite  direc- 
tions twice  a  day,  but  always  to  be  found  in  the  same 
place,  and  once  a  day  hid  under  a  shadow.  How 
very  simple  when  you  understand  it.  There  are  some 
things  hard  to  understand  about  Christ's  monument, 
the  Lord's  Supper.  Some  day,  when  God  explains 
them,  we  shall  find  them  very  simple,  very  easy  to  un- 
derstand. Shall  I  tell  you  a  story  in  which  to  carry 
your  sermon  home  ?    Very  well ;  here  it  is : 

There  is  a  legend  of  a  saint  whose  good  works  so 
pleased  the  angels  that  they  offered  him  such  a  gift 

160 


THE  SHADOW  CHH^D 

that  he  might  have  power  to  do  good,  as  the  flower 
gives  out  perfume,  without  knowing  it.  The  angels 
could  not  give  this  at  once;  but  after  thinking  long 
and  hard,  they  decided  to  make  this  power  for  him. 
So  they  carried  the  loom  of  light  into  a  land  where 
it  was  all  night. 

Out  of  the  darkness  they  spun  threads  finer  than 
those  of  love  that  hold  hearts  together.  From  these 
they  wove  a  web  so  fine  that  they  could  walk  through 
it  without  tearing  it ;  so  fine  that  you  can  to-day 
throw  stones  through  it  without  breaking  a  thread 
or  leaving  a  mark.  This  web  the  angels  gave  to  the 
saint,  and  they  told  him  that  if  he  would  work  be- 
hind it  he  would  be  able  to  do  good  as  the  flowers 
give  out  perfume  without  knowing  it.  The  saint 
called  this  new  web  his  shadow. 

This  wonderful  web  is  given  to  every  boy  and  girl 
on  one  condition — you  must  stand  in  the  light. 
Henry  Hudson  blest  the  world  without  knowing  it. 
He  was  behind  a  shadow.  Christ  has  given  you  a 
shadow  behind  which  the  world  may  not  see  you,  a 
shadow  behind  which  you  may  live  and  do  great  good 
without  knowing  it.  It  is  the  shadow  of  His  cross. 
Are  you  willing  to  be  a  shadow-child?  I  want  to 
hear  you  all  say,  "Yes !   Yes !   Yes !" 

161 


FOB  FIFTH  SUNDAY  IN  AUTUMN 

THE    SECRET    WORD 

"Obey  them  that  have  the  rule  over  you." — Hebrews  xiii.,  17 

SCHOOL  fraternities  give  their  members  a  secret 
word.  This  word  is  like  a  key  that  opens  many- 
doors.  To-day  I  am  going  to  give  the  members  of 
our  Junior  Congregation  a  secret  word,  one  that  will 
open  very  many  doors.  When  you  stand  before 
great  difficulties  where  there  is  no  door,  this  word 
will  often  make  a  door  and  then  open  it.  We  call  it 
a  secret  word  because  it  is  a  secret  of  happiness,  a 
secret  of  success,  a  secret  of  power.  It  is  a  secret  you 
can  tell  out  loud  to  all  your  friends.  This  secret  word 
is  "obey."  Professor  Huxley  says  the  boy  or  girl 
who  learns  to  obey  has  a  liberal  education.  My 
Juniors  have  heard  of  the  Lick  Observatory.  James 
Lick,  the  millionaire  who  built  it,  when  taking  any 
one  into  his  service  always  asked  him  to  plant  a  tree 
upside  down — the  roots  in  the  air,  the  branches  un- 
derground. If  there  were  any  protest  the  man  was 
at  once  sent  away.  Lick  saying  that  he  wanted  only 
men  who  would  obey  orders  strictly. 

162 


THE  SECRET  WORD 

I  have  a  friend  and  neighbor  whose  dog  has  seven 
puppies.  Last  week  the  maid  threw  some  bones  to 
the  mother  and  the  puppies  began  to  bite  on  these 
hard  bones.  The  mother  was  real  cross  with  her 
puppies,  bit  their  ears  and  made  them  cry.  They 
are  not  big  enough  to  howl,  and  so  I  say  cry.  There 
were  tears  in  the  sound  they  made.  This  was  the 
mother  dog's  way  of  teaching  her  children  the  secret 
word  "obey."  She  knew  they  were  not  old  enough 
to  chew  bones.  The  mother  dog  was  angry  at  her 
puppies  because  she  loved  them.  If  they  did  not 
learn  to  obey  her  they  would  not  grow  to  be  big  dogs. 

Our  text  says,  "Obey  them  that  have  the  rule  over 
you."  Your  parents,  your  school,  your  church  and 
your  God  have  rule  over  you.  Obey  is  the  secret  word 
of  your  happiness  and  success.  The  mother  dog  in 
her  bark  language  told  the  puppies  to  keep  away 
from  the  bones.  They  disobeyed  and  she  gave  them 
sore  ears.  The  next  time  they  will  listen  to  what 
mother  dog  tells  them. 

The  Bible  says  obey,  "Be  not  as  the  horse,  or  as 

the  mule   which  has   no   understanding."      But   you 

can  train  a  horse  or  mule  to  obey.     A  story  from  the 

Christian  Herald  will  explain  this.    One  day  in  Texas 

eirrht  hundred  horses  broke  out  of  a  corral  and  went 
«j 

163 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

off  at  full  speed.  Two  men  made  an  heroic  effort  to 
head  them  off,  but  were  brushed  aside  and  narrowly 
escaped  losing  their  lives.  Many  of  the  horses,  how- 
ever, belonged  to  the  First  Texas  Cavalry,  and  the 
bugler  was  one  of  the  men  who  saw  the  tumultuous 
flight.  He  made  a  rush  for  his  bugle  and  sounded 
a  call.  Instantly  it  could  be  seen  which  of  the  horses 
had  received  military  training.  In  obedience  to  the 
call,  the  old  chargers  formed  in  line  and  turned  at 
right  angles.  He  sounded  "Halt !"  and  the  chargers 
came  to  a  standstill.  The  other  horses,  heedless  of 
the  bugle-call,  continued  on  their  mad  career.  Some 
were  cut  to  pieces  by  a  train,  others  died  by  collision 
with  telegraph-poles  and  other  obstacles.  Thirty,  in 
all,  were  killed  before  their  flight  came  to  an  end. 
The  horses  that  had  learned  to  obey  were  not  hurt. 
Boys  and  girls  have  more  understanding  than  a  horse. 
They  should  more  readily  learn  to  obey. 

General  Havelock  was  one  night  at  a  public  dinner 
in  London.  He  suddenly  rose  from  the  table  and 
exclaimed,  "I  left  my  boy  this  afternoon  on  London 
Bridge,  and  told  him  to  wait  there  till  I  came  back !" 

The  general  had  forgotten  his  boy.  Where  do 
you  suppose  the  father  went  to  find  his  son?  He 
hastened  to  the  bridge  where  he  had  left  him,  and 

164 


THE  SECRET  WORD 

there  was  the  brave  boy,  patiently  waiting  for  his 
father.  He  had  learned  to  obey.  If  you  will  promise 
not  to  forget  the  secret  word,  I  will  tell  you  a  true 
bear  story.  I  give  it  to  you  just  as  I  found  it  in 
one  of  our  magazines. 

Mr.  Kipling  says  the  law  of  the  jungle  is  "obey." 
This  seems  to  be  the  law  of  Yellowstone  Park.  There 
is  a  lunch-station  at  the  Upper  Basin,  near  Old 
Faithful,  kept  by  a  kind-hearted  man.  He  got  ac- 
quainted last  year  with  a  bear,  who  came  to  his  house 
every  day.  The  bear  also  got  acquainted  with  him, 
and  would  walk  into  the  kitchen  seeking  food  for  her- 
self and  her  cubs.  The  cubs  never  came  with  the 
mother.  The  man  got  on  very  intimate  terms  with 
the  bear,  who  was  always  civil  and  well  behaved.  This 
bear  would  take  food  from  his  hand  without  taking 
his  hand.  One  day  toward  sunset  the  bear  came  to 
the  kitchen,  and  having  received  her  portion,  she 
went  out  of  the  back  door  to  carry  it  to  her  cubs. 
To  her  surprize  and  anger  the  cubs  were  there  wait- 
ing for  her.  She  laid  down  the  food,  and  rushed  at 
her  infants  and  gave  them  a  rousing  spanking,  and 
so  drove  them  back  into  the  woods,  cuffing  them  and 
knocking  them  at  every  step.  When  she  reached  the 
spot  where  she  had  told  them  to  wait,  she  left  them 

165 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

there  and  returned  to  the  house.  And  there  she 
stayed  in  the  kitchen  for  two  whole  hours,  making 
her  disobedient  children  wait  for  their  food,  simply 
to  discipline  them  and  teach  them  obedience.  The 
explanation  is  very  natural.  When  the  bear  leaves 
her  young  in  a  particular  place  and  goes  in  search 
of  food  for  them,  if  they  stray  away  in  her  absence 
she  has  great  difficulty  in  finding  them.  The  mother 
knew  that  the  safety  of  her  cubs  and  her  own  peace 
of  mind  depended  upon  strict  discipline  in  the  family. 
"Obey  them  that  have  the  rule  over  you." 
At  the  close  of  a  hot  day  an  aged  father  went 
into  the  field  and  asked  his  boy  to  take  a  package  to 
the  village  two  miles  away.  For  a  second  the  boy 
hesitated.  He  was  tired  and  hungry.  But  God's 
good  angel  helped  him,  and  he  said  almost  instantly 
and  pleasantly,  "Certainly,  father,  I'll  take  it."  The 
father  guessed  the  sacrifice  the  boy  was  making.  He 
put  his  hand  on  his  arm  and  said  lovingly,  "Thank 
you,  my  son;  you've  always  been  a  good  boy  to  me, 
Jim."  When  the  lad  returned  he  saw  the  farm-hands 
all  crowded  around  the  door.  One  of  them  came  to 
him  and  said:  "Your  father  fell  dead  just  as  he 
reached  the  house.  The  last  words  he  spoke  were  to 
you."     And  those   last  words  had  been   approving 

166 


THE  SECRET  WORD 

words.  '^You've  always  been  a  good  boy  to  irie, 
Jim."  They  echoed  and  reechoed  in  the  orphan's 
heart,  making  such  a  precious  melody. 

The  Bible  says :  "To  obey  is  better  than  sacrifice." 
Luther  said:  "I  would  rather  obey  than  work  mira- 
cles." He  might  have  said,  "No  one  can  work  mira- 
cles unless  he  obeys."  Obedience  is  a  key  to  every 
door  you  should  enter.  Will  my  Juniors  read  a  story 
of  how  a  Junior  became  a  great  man  by  obeying  a 
call.?    The  story  is  in  I  Samuel  iii.,  1-21. 


167 


FOR  SIXTH  SUNDAY  IN  AUTUMN 
HALLOWE'EN 

"The  man  that  deceiveth  his  neighbor,  and  saith,  'Am  not  I  in 
sport?'  " — Prov.,  xxvi.,  19 

THIRTEEN  centuries  ago  Hallowe'en  was  a 
holy  day  in  May.  It  was  called  "All  Saints' 
day."  The  evening  before  was  known  as  Hallowe'en, 
or  holy  evening.  On  November  1st  the  heathen  had 
an  "All  Spirits'  day."  All  spirits,  good  and  evil, 
were  thought  to  be  on  earth  that  night.  Witches 
and  fairies  visited  homes  and  played  tricks  and  had 
a  good  time.  In  order  to  keep  these  evil  spirits 
away  church-bells  were  kept  ringing  all  night. 

When  these  pagans  were  converted  to  Christianity 
the  Church  thought  by  putting  the  two  holy  days, 
"All  Saints'  day"  and  "All  Spirits'  day,"  together, 
they  would  make  it  easier  for  the  pagans  to  be  good 
Christians.  They  took  "All  Saints'  day"  from  May 
and  put  it  into  "All  Spirits'  day"  in  November.  At 
first  the  real  good  Christians  celebrated  the  evening 
of  October  31st  in  a  Christian  way.    Those  who  were 

168 


HALLOWE'EN 

not  so  good  celebrated  it  in  their  old  pagan  way. 
The  pagan  evening  soon  swallowed  up  the  Christian 
evening,  leaving  only  its  name.  Now,  after  thirteen 
centuries,  we  still  have  the  Christian  name  and  the 
pagan  celebration.  When  the  boys  kindle  the  bon- 
fires it  is  the  old  pagan  worship  of  the  sun.  When 
children  crack  nuts  it  is  a  relic  of  the  old  pagan  su- 
perstition. How  can  we  keep  all  the  fun  and  have 
less  pagan  and  more  Christian  in  our  Hallowe'en.? 

In  western  Pennsylvania,  when  I  was  a  boy, 
Hallowe'en  was  a  night  when  boys  and  girls  took  the 
place  of  witches  and  fairies.  They  would  deceive 
their  neighbors  and  then  say:  "Weren't  we  in 
sport?"  One  Hallowe'en  a  farmer  had  his  wagon 
loaded  with  wheat  ready  for  market.  A  number  of 
the  neighboring  boys  and  young  men  went  to  his  barn 
that  night,  unloaded  the  wheat  and  took  the  wagon, 
piece  by  piece,  and  put  it  together  on  the  very  top 
of  the  barn.  Then  they  carried  up  the  wheat  and 
put  it  in  the  wagon.  It  was  hard  work,  but  when 
finished  they  rolled  on  the  ground  and  laughed  to 
think  of  how  surprized  this  farmer  would  be.  Be- 
fore daylight  the  farmer  came  out,  harnessed  his 
horses  and  got  ready  for  an  early  start  to  market. 
When  he  opened  the  barn-doors  there  was  no  wagon 

169 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

to  be  found.  He  hunted  until  daylight  and  then 
found  the  wagon  on  the  top  of  his  barn.  They  were 
not  bad  boys,  but  did  this  in  order  to  have  a  little 
sport.  I  think  those  boys  could  have  had  just  as 
much  sport  and  a  httle  more  if  they  had  surprized 
their  neighbors  in  another  way. 

Suppose  they  had  taken  a  wagonful  of  flour  and 
potatoes  and  meat,  and  in  the  quiet  hours  of  the 
night  had  driven  to  the  homes  of  their  neighbors 
who  were  very,  very  poor,  and  left  some  of  these 
good  things  at  their  doors.  They  could  have  had  a 
good,  rollicking  laugh  at  the  thought  of  how  sur- 
prized these  people  would  be  when  they  came  out  next 
morning. 

Just  imagine  a  widow  with  a  number  of  children 
and  scarcely  anything  in  the  house  for  breakfast. 
The  next  morning  she  prays  that  God  would  send 
something  to  eat.  Then  she  takes  the  water-pail  and 
starts  for  the  spring.  As  she  opens  the  door  some- 
thing falls  on  the  step.  She  is  so  frightened  that  she 
drops  the  pail  and  runs  back  to  the  window.  She 
sees  a  barrel  of  flour,  a  bag  of  potatoes,  some  meat, 
and  a  number  of  good  things.  What  a  joke  that 
would  be  for  the  boys — to  imagine  how  surprized  she 
would  be.     They  could  roll  over  the  ground  and  al- 

170 


HALLOWE'EN 

most  over  themselves  laughing  at  the  way  the  poor 
woman  would  look  at  the  answer  to  her  prayer  on 
Hallowe'en. 

Then  suppose  there  was  a  farmer  who  was  sick 
and  too  poor  to  hire  men  to  husk  his  corn.  The  boys 
could  go  to  his  field  and  husk  his  corn  and  put  it  in 
the  crib.  Imagine  the  fun  of  seeing  the  sick  man 
next  morning  in  bed  leaning  on  his  elbow  and  looking 
out  at  his  empty  corn-field  and  full  corn-crib.  Boys 
will  be  boys,  and  in  this  way  they  could  have  funnels 
full  of  fun  on  Hallowe'en. 

Shall  I  tell  you  a  story?  One  Hallowe'en  a  boy 
rang  the  drug-store  bell.  The  clerk  came  down  and 
opened  the  door.  All  he  saw  was  a  pumpkin  with 
holes  for  eyes,  nose,  mouth  and  ears,  through  which 
a  candle  was  shining.  The  boys  had  a  good  laugh 
and  meant  no  harm.  They  were  not  bad,  only 
wanted  some  fun.  The  clerk  was  mad  and  thought 
the  boys  were  bad.  When  the  boy  who  rang  the  bell 
went  home  he  saw  the  doctor's  horse  at  the  gate. 
He  ran  in  and  found  baby  sister  very  sick.  The 
doctor  said,  "Peter,  run  as  fast  as  you  can  and  get 
this  medicine."  He  rang  and  rang  the  bell,  but  the 
clerk  did  not  come  down.  The  next  morning  there 
was  crape  on  the  door  of  the  baby's  home. 

171 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

Solomon  says:  As  a  mad  man  who  casteth  fire- 
brands, arrows  and  death,  so  is  the  man  that  de- 
ceiveth  his  neighbor,  and  saith,  "Am  not  I  in  sport?" 

Do  not  forget  that  Hallowe'en  means  Holy  Eve. 
An  evening  set  apart  to  think  of  those  who  were  hke 
saints  of  God  in  your  life.  Commit  to  memory  now 
what  Lowell  wrote  and  as  you  grow  older  the  mean- 
ing will  unfold  and  help  you  to  enjoy  Hallowe'en. 

One  feast,  of  holy  days  the  crest, 

I,  tho  no  Churchman,  love  to  keep, 
All  Saints — the  unknown  good  that  rest 

In  God's  still  memory  folded  deep. 
The  bravely  dumb  who  did  their  deed. 

And  scorned  to  blot  it  with  a  name, 
Men  of  the  plain  heroic  breed, 

That  loved  Heaven's  silence  more  than  fame. 


172 


FOB  SEVENTH  SUNDAY  IN  AUTUMN 

CHRYSANTHEMUM  SUNDAY 

"The  perfection  of  beauty." — Psalm  1.,  2 

HAVE  you  seen  the  perfection  of  beauty ?  No ! 
Then  you  must  be  asleep  all  day  as  well  as  all 
night.  Surely,  you  have  seen  the  perfection  of 
beauty  in  a  sunset  ?  Our  text  tells  us  that  God  shines 
through  the  perfection  of  beauty.  As  the  sun  shines 
through  a  beautiful  cloud  at  sunset  and  makes  it 
more  beautiful,  so  God  shines  through  the  perfection 
of  beauty,  adding  the  beauty  of  heaven  to  the  per- 
fection of  earth.  The  rainbow  is  the  perfection  of 
beauty — the  beauty  of  color  and  the  beauty  of  a 
great  arch.  When  I  see  a  rainbow  I  think  of  it 
as  an  arch  of  triumph  under  which  the  angels,  after 
bringing  to  earth  God's  blessing  of  rain,  march  back 
to  heaven.  I  have  also  seen  in  flowers  almost  the  per- 
fection of  beauty.  We  all  enjoy  that  beauty  to-day 
as  we  look  at  these  chrysanthemums.  The  one  I  hold 
in  my  hand  is  nearly  the  perfection  of  beauty,  and  I 
can  almost  see  the  light  of  God  shining  through  it. 

173 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

But  this  chrysanthemum  in  mj  left  hand,  while  it 
is  beautiful,  can  never  be  the  perfection  of  beauty. 
God  will  not  shine  through  this  one.  It  is  a  counter- 
feit. It  was  a  beautiful  white  chrysanthemum,  but 
the  florist  has  dipt  it  in  some  fluid  in  order  to 
change  its  color  to  salmon-pink.  God  does  not  like  a 
counterfeit.  There  is  no  need  for  counterfeit,  as  God 
has  made  it  possible  for  us  to  have  every  color  of  the 
rainbow  in  our  flowers.  We  must  study  the  flower 
and  learn  how  to  get  the  real  color,  just  as  we  study 
arithmetic  to  learn  the  correct  answer.  To  color  a 
flower  is  as  much  a  sin  as  it  is  to  put  down  the  answer 
to  a  problem  without  working  it  out.  The  gardener 
can  take  a  seed  or  a  bulb  with  a  brown,  dead  color, 
and  make  it  grow  and  blossom  —  pink,  blue,  red, 
violet,  and  all  colors  of  the  rainbow.  We  train  the 
plants  to  grow  and  look  up  to  heaven. 

They  meet  the  beauty  and  fragrance  coming  down 
to  them.  The  lily  rises  from  the  mud  at  the  bottom 
of  the  pond  and  lies  on  the  surface  of  the  water  as 
fragrant  and  beautiful  as  it  would  if  the  roots  were 
in  the  Garden  of  Eden.  Dipping  the  chrysanthemum 
to  give  it  a  beautiful  color  is  an  insult  to  nature. 

The  seed  and  bulb  have  no  fragrance,  but  they 
have  hidden  away  a  power  to  gather  fragrance  from 

174. 


CHRYSANTHEMUM  SUNDAY 

the  earth  and  sky.  Those  who  color  chrysanthemums 
will  be  mean  enough  to  sprinkle  them  with  frag- 
rance. The  chrysanthemum  has  somewhere  hidden 
away  the  power  to  become  as  sweet  and  fragrant  as 
the  violet  and  rose.  It  is  our  duty  to  develop  this 
power.  God  has  hid  away  wonderful  things,  and 
boys  and  girls  are  being  educated  in  order  to  find 
these  things  and  give  them  to  the  world.  When  you 
study  botany,  you  are  learning  to  find  the  marvelous 
things  God  has  hid  for  you  in  the  flowers.  When 
the  chrysanthemum  becomes  fragrant,  it  will  be  the 
perfection  of  beauty. 

Would  you  laugh  if  some  one  asked  you  to  listen 
to  a  chrysanthemum  growing.?  Huxley,  the  great 
student  of  nature,  says  if  our  ears  were  able  to  hear 
the  vibrations  we  could  sit  down  in  the  garden  and 
listen  to  the  flowers  growing.  Just  imagine  the  con- 
cert we  would  enjoy  on  a  beautiful  summer  morning. 
The  lily,  rose,  carnation  and  chrysanthemum;  what 
a  wonderful  quartet.  Then  the  children's  chorus — 
the  pansy,  violet,  clover,  honeysuckle,  lily-of-the-val- 
ley,  sweet-peas  and  trailing  arbutus.  I  believe  the 
birds  would  stop  singing  in  order  to  listen  to  this 
quartet  and  chorus.  Ear  specialists  may  some  day 
train  children's  ears  to  hear  the  flowers  grow. 

175 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

This  is  a  good  and  great  world,  but  it  will  be  bet- 
ter later  on.  Burbank,  or  some  of  his  students,  will 
give  us  chrysanthemums  of  all  colors  and  of  a  de- 
lightful fragrance.  In  everything  we  are  reaching 
forward  to  the  perfection  of  beauty.  God  has  pro- 
vided the  way ;  we  must  find  it. 

Shall  I  tell  you  a  story.? 

James  T.  Field  visited  Tennyson  at  his  English 
country  home.  After  dinner  they  took  a  walk 
through  the  garden.  Tennyson  would  stop  by  a  rare 
flower,  the  perfection  of  beauty,  and  read  its  "poetry 
of  matter."  Field  lingered  to  admire  a  flower,  and 
when  he  turned  from  it  he  found  Tennyson  crouching 
on  the  ground  and  crying,  "Down  on  your  knees, 
man !  Down  on  your  knees !  Violets !  Violets  !"  Fol- 
lowing the  fragrance,  Tennyson  had  found  the  Eng- 
lish violet  with  its  bluish-purple  color.  Before  it  the 
two  men  knelt,  for  behind  this  perfection  of  beauty 
they  felt  that  God  was  standing,  and  through  it  God 
was  shining. 

I  hope  our  Juniors  will  study  diligently  and  be- 
come great  men  and  women.  God  has  hid  away  the 
perfection  of  beauty  and  needs  you  to  find  it.  Listen 
to  Tennyson  as  he  cries,  "Down  on  your  knees. 
Juniors !    Down  on  your  knees !"     On   your  knees, 

176 


CHRYSANTHEMUM  SUNDAY 

my  boys  and  girls,  for  you  are  workers  together  with 
God  in  developing  the  perfection  of  beauty.  Moses 
took  off  his  shoes  when  standing  before  the  burning 
bush.  It  was  the  perfection  of  beauty  through  which 
God  was  speaking. 


177 


FOB  EIGHTH  SUNDAY  IN  AUTUMN 
FRUIT  FOR   THANKSGIVING   DINNERS 

"The  fruit  of  our  lips." — Hebrews  xiii.,  15 

"/^OOD-MORNING,  Juniors,  and  a  happy  thanks- 
Vj"  giving  for  every  one."  At  seven  o'clock  on 
Thanksgiving  evening  will  you  all  listen,  as  I  want 
to  say  to  each  of  you,  "Good-night,  Juniors,  I  hope 
every  one  has  made  some  one  happy  to-day!"  You 
may  not  be  able  to  give  a  Thanksgiving  dinner,  but 
you  can  all  give  some  Thanksgiving  fruit.  Every 
boy  and  girl  should  plant  a  tree,  cultivate  it,  and  in 
a  few  years  it  will  become  fruit-bearing.  Then  you 
can  have  fruit  of  your  own,  to  give  for  Thanksgiving 
dinners. 

In  the  eighth  chapter  of  Luke  there  is  a  farmer 
story,  and  it  tells  us  about  seeds  and  how  they  grow. 
Then  it  says,  "The  seed  is  the  word  of  God.  This  is 
the  seed  for  you  boys  and  girls  to  plant  in  your 
hearts,  watching  over  it,  cultivating  it,  until  you 
have  the  fruit.  Where  do  you  look  for  fruit.?  The 
place  will  depend  upon  the  kind  of  fruit  you  are 

178 


FRUIT  FOR  THANKSGIVING  DINNERS 

seeking.  Peanuts  grow  under  the  ground  at  the 
ends  of  the  roots,  apples  grow  in  the  air  at  the  ends 
of  the  branches,  cantaloups  are  found  on  the  ground 
at  the  ends  of  the  vine. 

Now,  if  you  plant  the  seed  of  God's  Word  in  your 
hearts,  where  will  you  find  the  fruit?  Some  good 
fruit  grows  on  the  eyelashes,  known  by  the  name  of 
tears.  This  fruit  ripens  as  it  drops  off  the  cheek, 
falls  into  the  hand  and  rolls  off  as  nickles,  dimes, 
quarters  and  dollars.  The  tear  represents  the  kind 
heart,  changed  into  money  for  some  one  in  need. 
Another  place  to  find  the  fruit  is  on  your  lips.  Our 
text  speaks  of  the  fruit  of  our  lips.  When  our 
thanksgiving  is  Godward  the  fruit  of  the  lips  is 
thanks,  and  when  they  reach  God,  our  thanks  are 
like  "apples  of  gold  in  pictures  of  silver."  When  our 
thanksgiving  is  manward  it  takes  the  form  of  some- 
thing that  will  feed  the  hungry  body  or  satisfy  the 
hungry  heart. 

I  want  to  tell  you  a  story  of  how  a  little  girl  tried 
to  secure  some  fruit  to  satisfy  her  mother's  hunger. 
This  little  child  wrote  to  one  of  our  papers,  adverti- 
sing her  doll  for  sale.  This  was  a  strange  advertise- 
ment, and  a  reporter  went  to  the  home  and  found  an 
eight-year-old     girl   whose     mother    was     sick     and 

179 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

starving.  The  little  tot,  without  saying  anything 
to  her  mother,  had  decided  to  sell  her  doll,  in  order 
to  buy  food  and  medicine. 

It  will  not  take  you  very  long,  Juniors,  to  find  a 
family  in  need  of  food,  not  only  at  Thanksgiving, 
but  during  other  parts  of  the  year.  If  you  have  the 
seed  of  God's  truth  in  your  heart,  and  it  has  grown, 
you  will  be  ready  to  drop  some  of  the  fruit  from 
the  ends  of  your  fingers  into  their  hands.  At  Thanks- 
giving time  we  all  have  something  to  give — chestnut- 
fed  turkey,  cranberry  sauce,  and  all  that  goes  with 
a  Thanksgiving  dinner. 

Do  we  not  forget  that  there  is  a  hunger  that 
turkey  dinner  will  not  satisfy  ?  The  hunger  that  calls 
for  one  special  kind  of  fruit — the  fruit  of  the  lips. 
Children  and  grown  people  are  hungry  for  a  kind 
word,  starving  for  sympathy. 

Here's  a  story  of  a  boy  who  was  hungry  for  the 
fruit  of  the  lips.  One  day  he  saved  a  rich  man  from 
drowning.  The  man  took  out  his  wet  pocketbook, 
full  of  money,  and  said,  "What  can  I  do  for  you,  my 
boy.f^"  When  he  saw  this  bulging  pocketbook,  what 
do  you  suppose  the  boy  said.-^  Here  are  his  words: 
"I  want  you  to  speak  a  kind  word  to  me  sometimes. 
I  ain't  got  no  mother  like  some  of  the  kids."     This 

180 


FRUIT  FOR  THANKSGIVING  DINNERS 

man  had  the  fruit  of  the  hand  and  was  ready  to  drop 
dollars  from  the  ends  of  his  fingers,  but  they  would 
not  satisfy  the  boy's  hunger.  He  was  hungry,  al- 
most starving  for  a  kind  word. 

Will  my  Juniors,  while  remembering  the  fruit  of 
the  eyelashes  and  the  fruit  of  the  fingers,  not  forget 
the  fruit  of  the  lips.? 


181 


FOR  NINTH  SUNDAY  IN  AUTUMN 
'  THANKSGIVING  RAGAMUFFINS 

"Old  shoes  and  clouted  upon  their  feet,  and  old  garments  upon 
them." — Joshua  ix.,  5 

THIS  text  tells  how  jou  dress  on  Thanksgiving 
for  jour  annual  game  of  ragamuffin.  Old 
shoes  and  clouted  upon  your  feet,  and  old  garments 
upon  you.  Clouted  means  patched.  Old  patched 
shoes.  On  Thanksgiving  morning,  on  our  way  to 
church  service,  we  will  meet  some  of  you  boys  and 
girls.  Meet  you  going  to  church .f^  No!  With  your 
faces  painted  like  wild  Indians,  drest  with  old  gar- 
ments and  clouted  shoes,  we  will  not  expect  to  see 
you  in  the  Thanksgiving  service.  You  will  not  so 
much  as  play  church,  except  in  taking  up  a  collec- 
tion. Those  of  you  who  have  always  lived  in  New 
York  do  not  think  of  this  Thanksgiving  game  of 
ragamuffin  as  a  strange  custom.  But  the  strangers 
coming  to  our  city  are  greatly  surprized  and  ask 
what  it  means.  Ragamuffin  day  is  all  that  is  left  of 
an  old  New  York  custom.     Men  and  women  richly 

183 


THANKSGIVING  RAGAMUFFINS 

drest  would  parade  on  Thanksgiving  as  our  Phila- 
delphia friends  do  on  New  Year's. 

The  children,  quick  to  see  a  chance  for  fun,  began 
to  imitate  the  grown-ups.  Dressing  in  old  clothes 
many  sizes  too  large,  painting  their  faces  or  putting 
on  a  mask,  the  children  went  out  to  mimic  the  seniors. 
The  grown-ups  have  given  up  their  custom,  but  the 
children  keep  up  the  imitation.  One  part  of  the  game 
is  to  ask  the  passer-by  for  pennies.  Frequently  the 
ragamuffins  ring  the  door-bell  and  ask  for  money  and 
for  something  to  eat.  It  sometimes  happens  that  a 
well-to-do  and  generous  man  will  meet  on  the  street 
and  give  money  to  his  own  child,  thinking  that  he  is 
helping  some  poor  boy  or  girl. 

The  text  I  have  given  you  to-day  is  a  part  of  a 
quaint  story  you  will  want  to  hear.  When  Joshua, 
with  his  army,  was  marching  through  Canaan,  he 
drove  the  people  out  and  took  possession  of  the 
country.  The  land  had  been  given  to  him,  but  the 
people  were  not  willing  that  he  should  take  pos- 
session. The  inhabitants  of  Gideon,  who  lived  close 
to  Joshua's  camp,  came  to  him  one  day  wearing  old 
patched  shoes,  ragged  clothes  and  with  many  other 
things  to  indicate  that  they  had  just  ended  a  long, 
long  journey.     Joshua  believed  them  and  promised 

183 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

to  protect  them  when  he  came  to  their  country.  After 
Joshua  gave  them  this  promise  and  oath,  he  learned 
that  they  were  his  neighbors.  He  kept  his  promise, 
but  as  a  punishment  for  deceiving  him  he  made  them 
all  servants,  "hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water." 
That  meant  they  were  to  cut  all  the  wood  and  carry 
all  the  water  for  the  soldiers.  Servants  because  they 
were  deceivers. 

Your  ragamuffin  play  on  Thanksgiving  morning 
is  very  much  like  the  game  in  earnest  that  was  played 
on  Joshua.  The  difficulty  about  that  old  game  was 
that  they  were  deceiving.  The  patched  shoes  and  old 
garments  were  telling  a  lie  for  these  people.  The 
Gideonites  were  too  cowardly  and  lazy  to  fight 
Joshua's  army.  They  made  a  lie  on  which  to  lie. 
But  your  game  is  all  fun,  and  every  one  knows  you 
are  not  trying  to  deceive. 

The  Thanksgiving  custom  of  our  Juniors  is,  I  be- 
lieve, here  to  stay.  In  fact,  I  would  be  sorry  to  see 
it  given  up.  If  it  is  here  to  stay  how  can  we  make 
it  pay.  Here  is  an  idea;  will  you  catch  it  in  your 
heads  and  drop  it  into  your  hearts?  On  Thanks- 
giving morning  put  on  old,  patched,  but  warm  shoes ; 
old  ragged,  but  warm  clothes ;  paint  your  faces  or 
put  on  a  mask,  and  then  go  out  into  the  crisp  morn- 

184 


THANKSGIVING  RAGAMUFFINS 

ing  for  an  hour's  fun.  Collect  all  the  pennies  the 
people  will  give;  get  dimes  and  dollars  if  you  can. 
Tell  the  people  the  money  is  for  the  poor.  Then 
scamper  home.  Put  on  your  respectable  countenance 
and  good  clothes  and  go  to  the  Thanksgiving  service. 
When  the  offering  is  received  for  the  poor,  as  it  al- 
ways is  on  Thanksgiving,  put  in  the  money  you  have 
received.  Handsful  onto  the  plate,  pour  it  out  for 
the  poor.  In  this  way  you  can  keep  up  the  custom 
that  gives  so  much  pleasure  to  all  Juniors.  No  one 
will  be  deceived,  and  you  will  be  helping  the  poor  to 
be  thankful  on  Thanksgiving.  Last  year  three  of 
my  Juniors  tried  this  plan,  and  when  they  came  to 
church  it  was  not  with  a  miserable  collection  but  with 
a  grand  offering. 

Shall  I  give  you  a  story  in  which  to  carry  this  new 
plan  home.''  One  day,  not  a  long,  long  time  ago,  a 
boy  brought  home  a  dog.  Some  of  you  know  how 
happy  a  boy  is  with  his  first  dog;  he  is  almost  as 
happy  as  the  dog.  The  boy's  name  was  Sam ;  the 
dog's  name  was  Bruno.  On  Thanksgiving  morning 
Sam  put  an  old  collar  on  Bruno,  a  black  patch  over 
one  of  his  eyes  and  one  foot  in  splints.  Sam  and 
Bruno  went  out  as  ragamuffins.  The  basket  hung 
around  Bruno's  neck  was  nearly  filled  with  pennies 

185 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

and  nickles.  At  the  dinner-table  the  mother  noticed 
the  boj  was  putting  to  one  side  of  his  plate  a  choice 
part  of  the  turkey  and  pushing  aside  the  best  por- 
tions of  his  Thanksgiving  dinner.  The  mother  said, 
"Sam,  you  must  eat  that  piece  of  turkey;  you  need 
it  to  make  you  strong ;  you  must  not  waste  these  good 
things."  Sam's  answer  was,  "I  am  saving  these  for 
my  dog,  Bruno.  He  is  waiting  for  his  Thanksgiving 
dinner."  The  mother  scolded  Sam  and  told  him  there 
would  be  plenty  of  scraps  left  for  Bruno.  The  father 
remembered  when  he  was  a  boy  and  expected  to  give 
Sam  a  good  "helping"  for  his  dog.  But  after  dinner 
father,  with  his  cigar,  forgot  all  about  Bruno.  Sam 
took  a  plate  and  went  'round  the  table  finding  a  bone 
on  father's  plate,  a  piece  of  gristle  on  the  next  plate, 
a  crust  at  another,  and  poured  some  cold  gravy  over 
them.  On  a  silver  tray  he  carried  a  dinner  to 
Bruno.  His  sister  overheard  Sam  talking  to  his  dog : 
"Poor  Bruno ;  I  expected  to  bring  you  a  Thanksgiv- 
ing offering,  but  here  I  am  with  only  a  collection." 


186 


FOB  TENTH  SUNDAY  IN  AUTUMN 
THE  LURE   OF   THE   LESSON 

"I  have  learned." — Phil,  iv.,  11 

c<X  URE"  is  a  good  word  to  learn.     It  means  to 

M J  call,  a  peculiar  call  that  attracts.  Lure  was 

in  the  call  of  Orpheus,  which  brought  wild  animals 
like  pets  to  his  feet.  In  the  call  of  the  school  you 
can  hear  the  lure  of  the  lesson — a  sweet,  clear  call, 
coaxing  you  to  master  every  subject.  If  each  lesson 
is  well  prepared,  the  recitation  will  be  a  delight. 
School  days  and  school  work  will  flow  along  like  a 
song.  If  you  start  right,  master  each  lesson,  you 
will  hear  the  lure  each  morning  when  you  wake,  and 
it  will  make  you  sing  like  the  lure  of  a  swing.  Then 
you  will  not  want  to  stay  at  home  from  school;  you 
will  not  listen  to  the  lure  of  "hookey." 

It  is  easy  enough  to  be  pleasant, 

When  school  flows  along  like  a  song; 

And  the  Juniors  worth  while,  can  always  smile 
When  recitations  are  never  dead  wrong. 

These  are  lessons  to  learn  on  the  playground,  at 
home,  in  church — lessons  in  the  school  of  joy  and 

187 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

in  the  school  of  sorrow.  Paul,  in  our  text,  says,  "I 
have  learned."  What  did  he  learn  .^^  He  learned  to 
be  content,  to  be  satisfied.  "I  have  learned,  in  what- 
soever state  I  am,  therewith  to  be  content."  This 
is  a  hard  lesson.  Last  week  I  read  of  a  man  who 
said:  "Have  patience  and  wait.  In  seeking  to  raise 
a  choice  variety  of  grapes  I  waited  twelve  years  be- 
fore the  vine  bore,  and  then  it  bore  only  six  grapes, 
and  I  was  overjoyed.  No ;  twelve  years  was  not  long 
to  wait.  I  was  after  a  definite  object,  and  time  and 
patience  bring  success."  Discontented  boys  and 
girls  are  never  happy,  because  never  content.  A 
good  teacher  can  help  you  to  learn  your  lessons. 
Paul  had  a  good  teacher.  He  says,  "I  can  do  all 
things  through  Christ  which  strengtheneth  me."  I 
want  my  Juniors  to  hear  and  heed  the  lure  of  Christ's 
school.  Learn  from  Him  how  to  be  content.  Read 
one  of  the  gospels  each  week,  and  find  how  many 
things  He  did  cheerfully  that  would  make  you  un- 
happy. Christ  heard  the  lure  of  His  Father's  call. 
Learn  from  him  to  be  content. 

There  is  a  fable  I  want  you  to  find  for  me.  It  is 
about  a  king  who  was  unhappy,  never  content.  Some 
one  told  him  that  if  he  could  find  a  happy  man  and 
wear  this  happy  man's   shirt,  he   would   always  be 

188 


THE  LURE  OF  THE  LESSON 

contented.  It  took  him  many  days,  weeks  and  months 
to  find  a  happy  man,  and  when  at  last  he  found  him, 
he  had  no  shirt.  He  was  so  poor  that  he  could  not 
afford  a  shirt — he  just  kept  his  coat  buttoned. 

Hear  what  Christ  said  when  on  earth:  "Foxes 
have  holes,  and  the  birds  of  the  air  have  nests,  but  the 
son  of  man  hath  not  where  to  lay  his  head."  If  he 
had  been  discontented  He  would  have  gone  home  to 
heaven  before  suffering  and  dying  for  you.  Learn 
from  Him  to  be  content.  Be  able  to  say,  "I  have 
learned."  If  you  are  tempted  to  fail,  tempted  to  be 
discontented,  find  some  one  who  has  less  than  you 
have,  but  who  has  heard  the  lure  of  content.  Here 
is  a  story  I  found  in  one  of  our  daily  papers : 

"Were  you  ever  in  your  life  glum  and  discon- 
tented?" asked  unhappy  Will. 

"Yes ;  once  I  was  plumb  down  in  the  mouth,"  owned 
Uncle  Henry,  with  an  air  of  candor.  "But  I  got 
cured  right  off,  and  I  ain't  ever  had  an  attack  of  the 
'blues'  since  then." 

"Do  tell  us  about  it." 

"Well,  it  was  when  I  was  a  young  man.  I  had  just 
got  a  job  workin'  on  the  Erie  Canal.  It  was  gettin' 
late  in  the  fall,  and  I  hadn't  any  shoes  to  my  name, 
and  I  had  to  send  home  every  red  cent  to  help  mother, 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

except  what  would  feed  me.  I  didn't  see  how  I  was 
to  get  a  pair  of  shoes  before  the  winter  set  in." 

"Well,  that  was  hard  lines." 

"So  I  thought,"  said  Uncle  Henry,  smiling,  "until 
one  day  I  saw  a  feller  on  the  street  that  hadn't  any 
feet.  I  can't  rightly  say  as  I've  ever  been  discontented 
since  then." 

The  story  cured  unhappy  Will. 

"Listen !    Can  you  hear  the  lure  of  the  lesson.?" 


190 


FOR  ELEVENTH  SUNDAY  IN  AUTUMN 
THE    CALL    OF    THE    CHURCH 

"Let  every  man  prove  his  own  work." — Gal.^  vi.,  4 

"  T^  ACK  to  your  books !"  is  the  call  of   the  school. 

1  J  You  will  find  one  end  of  your  recitation-room 
painted  black.  Some  white  marks  on  this  black- 
board will  tell  the  teacher  how  your  brain  is  working. 
You  will  put  a  problem  on  the  board  and  get  the 
correct  answer.  The  teacher  will  ask  you  to  explain 
and  prove  your  work.  Then  the  trouble  will  begin. 
The  addition  and  division  are  wrong — strange  that 
the  answer  should  be  right.  You  have  the  answer, 
but  can  not  prove  your  work.  The  white  marks  tell 
not  only  how  your  brain  is  working,  but  they  may 
tell  as  well  how  your  heart  is  working. 

"Back  to  the  Junior  Congregation!"  is  the  call  of 
the  church.  Have  you  solved  the  problem  of  how  to 
be  Christ's  boys  and  girls  ?  Some  white  marks  on  the 
blackboard  of  sin  will  tell  how  your  brain  and  heart 
are  working.  You  write  in  clear  white  letters, 
"Christ,  faith,  love,  repentance,  obedience."     Then 

191 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

put  down  the  answer,  "Christian."  The  answer  in 
correct.  Can  you  prove  your  work?  Have  you 
worked  out  the  problem,  or  have  you  just  put  down 
the  answer  .f'  Are  you  as  good  a  Christian  on  the 
playground  as  you  are  on  the  blackboard? 

We  must  prove  our  faith  by  our  works.  Josiah 
says  he  is  a  Christian,  loves  God  and  His  children. 
But  he  gets  very  angry  and  strikes  a  playmate. 
Josiah's  answer  was  correct,  but  the  work,  or  fight, 
did  not  prove  the  answer.    Prove  your  work. 

Two  illustrations  will  help  you  to  understand  what 
I  mean  by  proving.  Tommy  came  to  his  father  and 
said:  "Does  the  Golden  Rule,  'Do  unto  others  as 
you  would  have  others  do  unto  you,'  mean  papa  as 
well  as  Tommy?"  His  father  said,  "Yes,  my  son." 
"And  is  it  perfectly  right  to  follow  the  Golden 
Rule,  papa?"  "Why,  certainly,"  returned  the 
father ;  "we  should  all  obey  the  Golden  Rule."  Then 
Tommy  went  to  the  cupboard  and  came  back  with  a 
knife  and  a  large  apple-pie.  "Papa,  you  can  eat 
all  you  want  of  it."  His  father  had  worked  the 
problem ;  now  Tommy  asked  him  to  prove  his  answer. 

During  the  Civil  War  a  man  told  Secretary  Cam- 
eron that  he  had  invented  a  bullet-proof  breastplate 
for  the  soldiers.     He  had  the    bullet-proof    breast- 

192 


THE  CALL  OF  THE  CHURCH 

plate  with  him,  and  wanted  to  furnish  one  for  each 
soldier.  The  Secretary  asked,  "Do  you  guarantee  it 
to  be  bullet-proof?"  The  inventor  said,  "It  is  im- 
possible for  a  bullet  to  go  through  it."  "Very  well," 
said  the  Secretary,  "just  put  on  the  sample  you  have 
been  showing  me,  and  stand  on  the  other  side  of  the 
room  while  I  try  a  few  shots  at  you  with  this  pistol." 
The  man  refused  to  furnish  the  proof.  "Let  every 
man  prove  his  own  work."  Paul  says,  "Prove  all 
things;  hold  fast  that  which  is  good." 

There  are  two  problems  on  our  church  black- 
board for  you  Juniors.  First,  are  you  a  Christian? 
You  have  the  answer ;  can  you  prove  your  work  ?  A 
clergyman  asked  his  Juniors  if  they  had  ever  done 
anything  they  knew  was  wrong.  They  were  honest 
boys  and  girls  and  answered  "Yes."  He  told  them 
they  could  not  be  Christians  until  they  were  sorry 
for  doing  wrong  and  repented.  Then  he  asked  if 
they  knew  what  was  meant  by  repentance.  A  little 
boy  raised  his  hand.  "Well,  what  is  it,  my  lad?" 
"Being  sorry  for  your  sins,"  was  the  answer.  A 
little  girl  on  the  back  seat  raised  her  hand.  "Well, 
my  little  girl,  what  do  you  think?"  asked  the  clergy- 
man. "I  think,"  said  the  child,  "it's  being  sorry 
enough  to  quit." 

193 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

He  next  asked  the  Juniors  to  count  how  many 
things  they  had  done  that  were  wrong  and  that  they 
were  sorry  for  doing.  "Now,  one  more  addition," 
he  said ;  "how  many  times  have  you  been  sorry  enough 
to  quit  doing  what  you  knew  was  wrong?"  From 
the  number  of  times  you  did  wrong  and  were  sorry 
for  it,  subtract  the  number  of  times  you  were  sorry 
enough  to  quit.  Let  every  Junior  prove  his  or  her 
own  work.  Second,  are  you  doing  anything  to  prove 
to  others  that  you  are  a  Christian?  Something  that 
will  cause  others  to  follow  Christ.  Listen  to  a  story 
that  was  told  at  a  meeting  in  the  Old  John  Street 
Church,  New  York.  In  Alabama  a  godly  man  died 
leaving  four  unconverted  sons.  Each  built  a  new 
house  on  the  large  estate.  One  day  all  were  en- 
gaged in  tearing  down  the  old  home.  Suddenly  one 
of  them  dropt  and  began  to  cry.  The  other  brothers 
supposed  he  was  injured.  Rising,  he  pointed  to  the 
floor  he  was  tearing  up.  There,  he  pointed,  are  the 
marks  made  by  the  toe  of  father's  boots.  They  knew 
this  was  where  he  knelt  for  twenty-five  years  at 
famil}^  prayers.  The  four  knelt  at  the  mark  of  the 
old  family  altar  and  gave  their  hearts  to  God. 

The  father  was  dead,  but  he  had  left  the  proof. 

There  is  a  legend  of  a  monk  at  whose  door  stood 
194 


THE  CALL  OF  THE  CHURCH 

one  who  said  he  was  Jesus  Christ.  After  a  searching 
look  the  monk  asked,  "Where  is  the  print  of  the 
nails?"  The  mark  of  the  true  Christ  was  not  there, 
and  the  man  pretending  to  be  Christ  could  not  prove 
his  problem.  As  a  Christian  boy  or  girl,  you  will  not 
have  the  nail-print  in  your  hand,  but  there  will  be 
something  in  the  touch  of  your  hand,  as  you  go 
about  doing  good,  that  will  prove  to  all  that  you  are 
a  child  of  the  Christ. 

"Let  every  man  prove  his  own  work  and  then  shall 
he  have  rejoicing."  Let  every  Junior  prove  his  or 
her  work,  then  play  and  pray. 


195 


FOR  TWELFTH  SUNDAY  IN  AUTUMN 
FINDING  A  GOOD   THING 

"It  is  a  good  thing  to  give  thanks." — Psalms  xcii.,  1 

TELL  your  day-school  teacher  that  you  are 
looking  for  a  good  thing.  The  teacher  will 
say,  "You  must  not  use  slang."  You  can  answer, 
"A  good  thing,  is  not  slang.  God  says,  'It  is  a  good 
thing  to  give  thanks.'  "  If  you  are  looking  for  "a 
good  thing,"  look  for  something  for  which  to  give 
thanks.  Fourteen  more  days  to  Christmas — just  two 
weeks  in  which  to  find  a  good  thing.  You  can  find  a 
good  thing  if  you  are  looking  for  it. 

A  little  girl's  mother  asked  her,  "Why  are  you 
tearing  your  doll  to  pieces.?"  Her  answer  was,  "Papa 
says  there  is  a  grain  of  comfort  in  everything,  and  I 
am  looking  for  it."  When  this  child  was  older  she 
went  to  a  party  where  everybody  was  strange  to  her. 
She  grew  very  homesick  and  was  crying  when  she 
started  home.  When  at  the  door  she  remembered  her 
lesson,  and  running  back,  a  smile  shining  through  her 
tears,  said:    "Good-by,  Miss  Smif ;  mama  told  me  to 

196 


FINDING  A  GOOD  THING 

be  sure  and  tell  you  I  had  a  nice  time."  Surely,  you 
can  find  one  grain  of  comfort  for  which  to  be  thank- 
ful. She  found  a  grain  of  comfort  in  her  home- 
going. 

Happiness  is  a  good  thing  for  which  to  give 
thanks.  Can  we,  in  eleven  days,  find  any  happiness  .f* 
Listen  to  two  stories. 

"Guess  who  was  the  happiest  child  I  saw  to-day  .f*" 
asked  father,  taking  his  own  two  little  boys  on  his 
knees. 

"Oh,  who,  father?" 

"But  you  must  guess." 

"Well,"  said  Jim  slowly,  "it  was  a  very  rich  little 
boy,  with  lots  and  lots  of  sweets  and  cakes." 

"No,"  said  father.  "He  wasn't  rich;  he  had  no 
sweets  and  cakes.     What  do  you  guess,  Joe?" 

"He  was  a  pretty  big  boy,"  said  Joe,  "and  he  was 
riding  in  an  automobile." 

"No,"  said  father.  "He  wasn't  big  and  wasn't 
riding  in  an  automobile.  You  have  lost  your  guesses, 
so  I  will  have  to  tell  you.  There  was  a  flock  of  sheep, 
and  they  must  have  come  a  long  way,  so  dusty  and 
tired  and  thirsty  were  they.  The  drover  took  them 
up,  bleating  and  lolling  out  their  tongues,  to  the 
town  pump  to  water  them.     But  one  poor  old  ewe 

197 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

was  too  tired  to  get  to  the  trough,  and  fell  down  on 
the  hot,  dusty  stones.  Then  I  saw  my  little  man, 
ragged  and  dirty  and  tousled,  spring  out  from  the 
crowd  of  urchins  who  were  watching  the  drove,  fill 
his  hat  with  water  and  carry  it — one,  two,  three — oh, 
as  many  as  six  times,  to  the  poor,  suffering  animal, 
until  the  creature  was  able  to  get  up  and  go  on  with 
the  rest." 

This  boy  found  happiness  when  he  was  not  looking 
for  a  good  thing — found  happiness  in  doing  a  good 
thing. 

There  was  a  young  lady  once  who  was  very  un- 
happy. She  lived  in  a  fine  house,  and  had  lots  of 
toys,  and  a  pony,  and  a  watch,  but  she  was  very, 
very  unhappy.  Nothing  could  please  her.  Even 
the  weather  was  never  just  what  she  wanted;  it  was 
sure  to  rain  when  she  wanted  it  to  be  fine,  or  it  was 
sure  to  be  fine  when  she  took  out  her  nice  new  um- 
brella. From  morning  till  night  she  murmured, 
murmured,  grumbled,  grumbled,  and  was  very  un- 
happy. 

One  day  she  came  upon  two  poor  children  playing 
in  a  field,  and  they  were  having  a  hearty  game.  You 
could  hear  their  shouts  of  laughter  almost  over  the 
village.     "These  children  are  very  happy;  their  eyes 

198 


FINDING  A  GOOD  THING 

are  so  bright,  and  they  seem  so  fond  of  each  other, 
I  think  I  shall  ask  them  what  makes  them  so  happy." 
So  she  summoned  up  courage  and  went  to  the  big- 
gest boy — he  was  about  seven — and  said,  "You  are 
very  happy;  what  makes  you  so?"  The  boy  was  a 
little  shy  at  first,  before  this  fine  little  lady,  with  her 
very  fine  dress,  and  his  little  brother  came  and  half 
hid  behind  him. 

"What  makes  you  so  happy  ?"  asked  the  little  lady. 

"I  don't  know,  Miss,  what  you  mean,"  said  the 
boy;  "what's  happy.?"  "Why,"  she  repHed,  "it 
means  bright,  glad,  fond  of  things." 

"Oh!"  said  the  boy,  "Jim  and  I  are  always  glad; 
ain't  we,  Jim.^"'  And  the  eyes  of  the  little  brother 
danced  like  sunshine  upon  ripples  as  he  said,  "Yes, 
always  glad." 

"But  what  makes  you  so  glad.'"' 

"I  don't  know,  I'm  sure.  Miss,"  said  the  boy,  "ex- 
cept that  when  I  try  to  make  Jim  glad  I  get  glad 
myself." 

I  want  each  and  every  one  of  my  girls  and  boys 
to  get  glad  before  Christmas.  "It  is  a  good  thing 
to  give  thanks." 


199 


FOR  THIRTEENTH  SUNDAY  IN  AUTUMN 

A  RING  TO  MAKE  HIM   SING 

"A  ring  on  his  hand,  and  shoes  on  his  feet." — Luke  xv.,  22 

IT  was  very  kind  of  that  father  to  give  his  son  a 
pair  of  shoes.  The  boy  had  been  away  from 
home.  He  had  spent  all  his  money,  worn  out  all  his 
clothes,  and  tramped  out  both  his  shoes.  An  unkind 
father  would  have  told  him  to  go  back  and  get  his 
shoes  where  he  foolishly  spent  his  money.  But  this 
father  was  good  and  wise.  I  do  not  think  any  one 
should  have  objected,  even  if  he  had  given  the  boy 
two  pairs  of  shoes.  But  why  did  he  give  his  younger 
son  a  ring  when  he  needed  so  many  other  things?  I 
believe  you  can  guess  the  reason.  The  clothes  and 
the  shoes  made  the  boy  feel  comfortable;  the  ring 
made  him  feel  at  home.  The  shoes  told  him  of  his 
father's  pity;  the  ring  told  him  of  his  father's  love. 
The  shoes  warmed  his  feet;  the  ring  warmed  his 
heart.  It  was  the  ring  that  made  him  sing,  "Home, 
Sweet  Home." 

In  our  works  of  charity  we  give  clothes  and  shoes, 
200 


FINDING  A  GOOD  THING 

but  too  often  we  forget  the  ring.  We  provide  for  the 
body,  but  forget  the  heart.  Sometimes  you  meet 
people  whose  hearts  are  starving.  A  tear  dropt  on 
this  story  when  your  pastor  read  it:  The  tall,  awk- 
ward boy,  just  in  from  his  work  at  the  shop,  care- 
fully unrolled  the  big  bundle  he  carried,  and  dis- 
closed a  plant  in  full  bloom.  As  his  toil-roughened 
hands  busied  themselves  with  folding  up  the  paper 
and  string,  a  woman  who  felt  that  neighborly 
services  gave  her  the  right  to  free  speech,  looked  at 
the  flower  and  remarked,  "It's  pretty;  but  there  are 
plenty  of  things  needed  a  sight  more  than  flowers  in 
this  house."  "It's  for  mother,"  answered  the  boy. 
"She's  had  a  whole  lifetime  of  doing  without  things 
she  liked  because  something  else  was  needed  worse. 
She's  going  to  have  flowers  now,  if  I  can  get  them." 
It  would  not  be  for  long;  they  both  knew  that,  and 
the  invalid  in  her  plain  little  room  caressed  with 
loving  fingers  and  eager  eyes  the  treasures  that  were 
brought  to  her.  She  was  too  weak  to  question  now 
with  voice  or  brain  how  such  things  were  procured ; 
she  only  watched  for  and  enjoyed  them,  and  the  boy 
saw  to  it — at  what  cost  of  self-sacrifice  and  overwork 
he  only  knew — that  the  supply  did  not  fail.  But  the 
well-meaning  woman  shook  her  head  over  each  ar- 

201 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

rival,  and  murmured  to  herself,  if  to  no  one  else,  that 
it  was  "a  shame  to  spend  money  for  just  flowers,  with 
so  many  things  worse  needed  about  the  house." 
Love's  lavish  offerings  have  often  a  reason  and  mean- 
ing not  understood  by  those  who  coldly  compute  the 
pence  they  cost.  The  flowers  in  the  sick-room  were 
pleasures  and  comfort  to  the  dying  mother,  but  who 
shall  estimate  what  threads  of  fineness  and  nobility 
their  purchase  wove  into  the  character  of  the  boy? 

The  ring  warmed  the  boy's  heart  and  made  him 
sing.  The  flowers  warmed  the  mother's  heart  and 
gave  her  new  power.  There  are  poor  boys  and  girls 
whose  hearts  are  starving  to  death  after  they  have 
been  given  all  the  clothes  and  food  they  need — boys 
and  girls  starving  for  love. 

Here  is  a  story  that  tells  just  what  I  mean.  I 
visited  South  Washington  to  see  Margaret  Miller. 
It  went  to  my  heart  to  see  the  bright  hectic  flush, 
and  the  thin,  wasted  fingers  so  nervously  playing 
with  the  patched  quilt.  I  found  that  the  family  had 
food  and  fuel  enough  for  present  needs ;  but,  oh ! 
those  people  starve  and  shiver  for  the  food  and 
warmth  that  love  and  sympathy  alone  can  give.  They 
are  so  shut  out  from  all  that  is  beautiful,  even  if  it 
be  not  essential, 

202 


A  RING  TO  MAKE  HIM  SING 

Margaret  welcomed  me  with  a  smile  more  than 
usually  wistful.  I  put  down  the  cod  liver  oil  I  had 
brought  and  took  the  little  hand  in  mine. 

"You  have  been  so  good  to  me,  and  given  me  so 
many  things  that  I  need,"  she  said;  "I  wonder  if 
you'll  let  me  ask  for  something  else — something,  oh ! 
something  I  do  so  want  to  have  for  my  very  own!" 
Her  eyes  took  the  look  of  happy  anticipation.  "She 
is  only  seventeen,"  I  thought,  "and  what  can  these 
bare  walls  hold  to  feed  her  longing?"  So  I  answered, 
"You  may  ask  me  now."  "I  want,  oh !  I  want  a  gold 
ring;  I've  never  had  a  ring — and  please  mark  it 
'With  Mrs.  Williamson's  love.'  " 

When  I  returned  with  the  ring,  a  little  band, 
simply  chased,  I  slipt  it  on  her  slender  finger  so  quick- 
ly that  she  felt  it  before  she  saw  it. 

When  she  held  up  her  hand  and  realized  that  the 
glittering  gold  band  was  hers — her  heart's  desire 
gratified,  her  face  fairly  shone — there  was  a  glory 
in  it  beyond  words  to  express.  Its  brightness  seemed 
to  hght  the  dingy  room.  I  was  so  overcome  that 
I  slipt  out  as  quickly  as  I  could,  scarcely  knowing 
whether  I  still  heard  the  words :  "Mine !  Mine ! 
Oh,  isn't  it  beautiful!"  So  small  a  gift  and  such  a 
rich  reward. 

203 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

I  did  not  reach  home  until  late  last  night,  so  over- 
slept this  morning.  With  mj  mail  I  found  a 
crumpled  note.  "It  was  left  for  you  very  early  this 
morning,"  said  my  maid,  "by  a  ragged-looking  boy, 
whom  the  cook  found  crying  at  the  gate  when  she 
unlocked  it." 

It  read:  "My  child  Margaret  went  to  sleep  with 
the  ring  on  her  finger.  She  ain't  never  woke  up. 
Maybe  she's  walkin'  on  them  golden  streets  now. 
You  made  her  very  happy.     Jane  Miller." 

She  had  lived  only  half  an  hour  after  we  parted. 
Her  mother  said  that  the  smile  never  left  her  face. 

It  was  the  ring  that  made  her  sing,  "Mine !  Mine ! 
Oh,  isn't  it  beautiful!" 


204, 


WINTER 

(December  Zlst-March  20th) 

BLOW,  BLOW,  THOU  WINTER  WIND 

Blow,  blow,  thou  winter  wind, 
Thou  art  not  so  unkind 
As  man's  ingratitude ; 
Thy  tooth  is  not  so  keen, 
Because  thou  art  not  seen, 

Altho  thy  breath  be  rude. 
Heigh-ho !  sing,  heigh-ho !  unto  the  green  holly ; 
Most  friendship  is  feigning,  most  loving  mere  folly; 
Then,  heigh-ho,  the  holly! 
This  life  is  most  jolly ! 

— William  Shakespeaee. 


FOB  FIRST  SUNDAY  IN  WINTER 

THE    CHRISTMAS    MEASURE 

"And  running  over." — Luke  vi.,  38 

A  QUART  measure  does  not  hold  a  gallon.  This, 
you  say,  is  true,  but  it  is  not  new.  Juniors, 
please  do  not  look  so  blue,  and  I  may  tell  you  some- 
thing new.  Do  you  know  that  a  quart  measure  will 
hold  more  than  a  quart?  No?  Then  I  can  tell  you 
something  true  that  is  new  to  you.  A  full  quart  is 
good  measure.  There  is  another  kind  of  measure  for 
the  same  quart ;  it  is  called  gospel  measure.  When 
good  measure  is  prest  down  a  little  and  shaken  to- 
gether a  little,  it  will  settle  a  little.  Then  it  will 
hold  a  little  more.  If  you  keep  pressing  and  shaking 
until  it  is  running  over,  you  have  gospel  measure. 
"Prest  down,  shaken  together  and  running  over." 

When  you  are  at  dinner  to-day,  pour  water  into 
a  glass  until  it  is  just  full.  That  will  be  good  meas- 
ure. Then  let  one  more  drop  fall  into  it,  and  then 
another  one,  and  then  another.  Be  careful  now  that 
it  does  not  run  over  on  the  clean  table-cloth.     Now, 

207 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

steady,  careful,  now,  as  you  let  slip  another  drop. 
These  drops  are  pressing  a  little,  and  shaking  a 
little,  making  room  for  a  little  more.  One  more  drop 
and — over  it  goes.  I  hear  you  cry,  "Oh,  mama,  ex- 
cuse me!  I  did  not  know  there  was  so  much  to  run 
over." 

Are  you  ready  to  give  gospel  measure  for  Christ- 
mas? There  must  be  enough  in  your  good  measure 
to  have  some  running  over  for  the  poor,  who  love 
Christ  as  dearly  as  you  love  Him.  I  never  knew  a 
boy  to  be  sick  after  eating  his  Christmas  dinner  if 
he  gave  part  of  his  dinner  to  the  poor.  Your  Christ- 
mas measure  must  also  run  over  enough  to  give 
Christmas  gifts  to  boys  and  girls  who  do  not  love 
Christ.  Yes,  yes,  they  must  have  a  part  of  the 
Christmas  joy!  Christmas  is  like  rain,  it  is  for  the 
just  and  for  the  unjust.  Press  your  Christmas 
measure  a  Httle  more  and  shake  it  a  little  more,  for 
you  must  have  enough  running  over  for  the  animals. 
Ha,  ha,  you  laugh.  How  can  we  give  Christmas 
gifts  to  animals.?  I  read  this  week  of  two  Juniors 
who  gave  a  horse  a  Christmas  gift.  It  was  a  very 
cold  Christmas  eve  and  the  streets  were  coated  with 
ice.  This  horse  had  a  very  heavy  load,  and  was 
trying  to  pull  it  up  the  hill  where  Dannie  and  Helen 

208 


THE  CHRISTMAS  MEASURE 

were  coasting.  When  the  horse  came  to  a  shppery 
place  he  began  to  coast  both  ways.  His  front-feet 
were  coasting  down  the  hill  and  his  hind-feet  were 
coasting  up  the  hill.  Dannie  thought  this  was  great 
sport.  He  said  the  horse  was  celebrating.  Helen 
was  full  of  fun,  but  she  was  sorry  for  the  horse. 
Away  she  ran  and  got  a  pail  of  ashes  and  threw  them 
around  the  horse's  feet.  Dannie  saw  there  was  more 
fun  in  helping  than  in  hindering,  so  off  he  ran  for 
more  ashes.  Soon  they  had  the  road  sprinkled  all 
the  way  to  the  top  of  the  hill.  The  driver  thanked 
the  Juniors  and  said  they  had  helped  to  pull  the  load 
up  the  hill.  The  horse  looked  thanks  and  started 
up  the  road  with  his  load.  Away  ran  Dannie  and 
Helen  singing,  "Jack  and  Gill,  went  up  the  hill,  to 
get  a  pail  of  ashes."  Helen  said  it  was  Ash  Christ- 
mas. There  must  be  enough  also  in  our  Christmas 
measure  to  have  something  running  over  for  the 
birds.  When  Christ  came  into  this  world  He  made 
every  person  and  every  creature  in  all  the  world 
happy. 

You  often  speak  of  the  cattle  that  were  in  the 
stable  where  Christ  was  born.  Did  you  ever  think 
that  there  may  have  been  birds  roosting  there  that 
night?    We  can  not  be  sure  of  this,  but  one  thing  we 

209 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

are  sure  of,  that  birds  are  happier  because  Christ  was 
born.  How  do  we  know  this?  Because  boys  and 
girls  who  love  Christ  are  kind  to  the  birds.  Here  is 
a  story  of  a  boy  who  became  a  king  and  was  kingly 
kind  to  birds. 

On  a  very  cold  Christmas  morning,  the  King  of 
Sweden  was  coming  home  from  church  in  a  sleigh. 
He  noticed  flocks  of  small  birds  flying,  then  lighting 
on  the  road,  and  then  flying  away  again,  uttering 
shrill  cries.  The  king  asked  his  coachman  why  so 
many  birds  were  in  the  city.  The  coachman,  who 
was  from  the  country,  told  the  king  that  because  of 
the  deep  snow  the  birds  had  been  driven  by  hunger 
from  the  field  and  the  wood  in  search  of  food.  "Drive 
home  as  fast  as  you  can,"  said  the  king,  "and  get  a 
large  sheaf  of  wheat.  Bind  the  sheaf  to  a  tall  pole 
and  fasten  it  in  the  snow  in  front  of  the  palace." 
For  an  hour  the  king  sat  by  his  window  and  watched 
the  birds  as  they  came  by  tens,  twenties  and  hun- 
dreds to  their  Christmas  dinner.  That  night  the 
king  looked  from  his  bedroom  window  to  see  if  the 
birds  were  roosting  on  their  Christmas  tree.  It  was 
so  dark  that  he  could  not  see  the  pole  on  which  had 
been  fastened  the  sheaf  of  wheat.  But  that  very 
night  he  dreamed  that  an  angel  came  and  split  the 

210 


THE  CHRISTMAS  MEASURE 

Christmas  pole  from  top  to  bottom.  Then  each  of 
these  parts  was  spht  in  two.  The  strange  vision  of 
the  dream  was  that  no  matter  how  often  they  were 
spht,  each  part  was  as  large  as  the  original  pole. 
Soon  there  was  enough  lumber  from  the  one  pole  to 
build  a  palace  stable  larger  and  more  beautiful  than 
any  mansion  he  had  ever  seen.  In  his  dream  angel 
carpenters  seemed  to  be  doing  all  the  work.  All 
living  creatures  found  a  place  in  this  palace  stable 
and  there  were  splendid  homes  for  the  birds.  In  the 
midst  of  all  tliis  was  a  manger,  and  in  it  the  sheaf  of 
wheat  his  coachman  had  fastened  to  the  pole.  In  the 
manger  and  on  the  sheaf  slept  a  beautiful  child — 
sweeter  and  more  beautiful  than  any  child  he  had 
ever  seen.  The  light  from  the  manger  drove  away 
the  night  and  brought  in  the  morning.  The  singing 
of  the  birds,  sweeter  than  any  song  he  had  ever 
heard,  woke  him  from  his  dream.  The  king  never 
forgot  his  dream-vision  of  Christmas  measure — 
something  running  over  for  every  living  thing. 

The  Christmas  feeding  of  the  birds  is  still  kept 
up  in  many  parts  of  Norway  and  Sweden.  Bunches 
of  oats  are  placed  on  the  roofs  of  houses,  on  trees  and 
fences,  to  furnish  the  birds  with  their  share  of  the 
Christmas  gifts.     Two  or  three  days  before  Christ- 

211 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

mas,  carloads  of  sheaves  are  brought  into  the  towns 
as  Christmas  trees  are  brought  to  us.  Both  rich  and 
poor  buy  and  place  them  everywhere.  Every  poor 
man  has  saved  a  penny  or  two,  or  even  one  farthing, 
to  buy  a  bunch  of  oats  or  wheat  for  the  birds.  It  is 
a  beautiful  custom,  in  which  the  children  take  an 
active  part.  Gospel  measure  is  a  Christmas  treasure 
that  brings  great  pleasure. 


FOR  SECOND  SUNDAY  IN  WINTER 
THE   ATHLETIC   DAY 

"Be  not  anxious  for  the  morrow,  for  the  morrow  will  be  anxious 
for  itself." — Matthew  vi.,  34 

NEVER  cross  a  bridge  until  you  come  to  it. 
"How  foolish,"  you  say;  "how  could  any  one 
cross  a  bridge  until  he  comes  to  it?"  You  can  not 
cross  it  with  your  feet,  but  you  can  think  you  are 
crossing  and  you  can  put  a  fret  into  each  think-step. 
There  is  a  bridge  between  this  day  and  our  next  day ; 
between  Sunday  and  Monday.  When  you  are 
anxious  and  fret  about  the  next  day,  you  are  trying 
to  cross  the  bridge.  Our  text  means,  boys  and  girls, 
do  not  try  to  live  in  two  days  without  having  a 
night  between  them. 

Do  you  Juniors  know  that  the  day  we  fret  most 
about  is  the  day  that  never  comes?  The  one  day 
of  the  year  that  one  will  never  see  ?  It  is  the  athletic, 
the  jumping  day  of  the  year.  This  athletic  day 
makes  a  long  jump  over  one  long  day  without  touch- 
ing it.     On  Friday,  December  31,  1909,  to-morrow, 

213 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

the  day  you  expected  on  Saturday,  jumped  clear 
over  Saturday  into  Sunday,  January  2,  1910.  It 
will  always  keep  one  day  ahead.  The  day  that  is 
always  jumping  one  day  ahead  is  to-morrow.  You 
have  never  seen  or  lived  in  to-morrow.  At  midnight, 
when  you  are  fast  asleep,  to-morrow  makes  a  long 
jump,  and  when  you  awake,  the  to-morrow  you  ex- 
pected to  see  has  gone.  It  has  jumped  over  into  the 
next  day. 

This  is  Sunday,  and  you  say  "to-morrow  will  be 
Monday."  But  on  Monday  to-morrow  will  be  Tues- 
day; on  Tuesday,  to-morrow  will  be  Wednesday. 
God  is  the  only  person  who  keeps  ahead  of  to-morrow. 
We  should,  therefore,  put  to-morrow  in  God's  keep- 
ing, and  let  Him  take  care  of  it  for  us.  "Be  not 
anxious  for  the  morrow,  for  the  morrow  will  be 
anxious  for  itself."  We  should  think  about  to-morrow 
and  make  plans  for  to-morrow.  But  we  are  not  to 
fret  and  to  be  anxious  about  things  we  can  not  do 
until  we  come  to  them,  or  until  they  come  to  us.  I 
want  you  to  learn  carefully  what  is  called  the  Chris- 
tian law  of  living:  "Do  the  day's  work  God  gives 
you,  bear  the  day's  burden  God  sends  you,  and  be 
not  anxious  about  the  evil  which  the  morrow  may 
bring."     The  to-morrows  are  keeping  ahead  of  us 

2U 


THE  ATHLETIC  DAY 

and  the  yesterdays  are  running  away  from  us.  One 
day  at  a  time. 

The  first  day  of  this  year  was  a  hoHday  and  the 
second  day  was  a  holy  day.  There  are  three  kinds 
of  days  in  each  year — hoHdays,  holy  days  and  hard- 
work  days.  The  holidays  and  holy  days  are  given 
in  order  to  soften  the  hard-work  days.  Our  text  is 
another  of  God's  ways  for  keeping  us  happy  on  hard- 
work  days.  He  says,  "Be  not  anxious  for  the  mor- 
row." There  is  no  room  in  to-day  for  any  other 
day.  When  yesterday  and  to-morrow  try  to  crowd 
into  to-da}^  it  is  overcrowded.  One  day  at  a  time, 
Juniors,  one  day  at  a  time. 

A  member  of  our  Senior  Congregation,  who  was 
once  a  member  of  our  Junior  Congregation,  sent  me 
this  illustration:  Pile  three  hundred  and  sixty-five 
panes  of  transparent  glass  one  upon  the  other  and 
try  to  look  through  them.  What  do  you  see  ?  Noth- 
ing but  inky  blackness.  Take  from  off  the  pile  one 
pane ;  look  through  it.  Now  what  do  you  see  ?  You 
see  everything  that  is  in  sight.  Thus  you  face  the 
year  with  its  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  days  piled 
one  upon  the  other — all  is  darkness.  But  if  each 
morning  you  take  off  from  the  pile  of  days  that  one 
which  comes  first,  you  are  enabled  to  see  your  duties 

215 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

for  that  one  day.  Put  seven  of  these  panes  together 
and  try  to  look  through  them.  I  hear  you  say,  "It 
makes  my  eyes  tired."  The  man  who  made  the  glass 
intended  that  you  should  look  through  only  one  pane 
at  a  time.  One  day  at  a  time,  Juniors ;  one  day  at  a 
time. 

When  you  tire  of  calling  each  day  a  pane  of  glass 
you  can  think  of  it  as  a  letter.  You  know  what  a 
steamer  letter  is.  Before  sailing  you  get  a  package 
of  letters,  one  for  each  day  you  are  to  be  away. 
Now,  suppose  your  teacher  gave  you  a  steamer  letter, 
with  one  lesson  for  each  day.  Would  it  not  be  wise 
to  open  but  one  at  a  time,  get  its  lesson  and  leave  the 
other  lessons  each  for  its  own  day? 

Ask  your  father  to  loan  you  the  old  book  his 
mother  gave  him.  In  it  you  will  find  the  following, 
and  many  other  pretty  stories :  "Why  are  ye 
anxious  concerning  raiment?" — that  is,  about  your 
clothes.  "Consider  the  lilies  of  the  field,  how  they 
grow;  they  toil  not,  neither  do  they  spin,  yet  I  say 
unto  you,  that  even  Solomon  in  all  his  glory  was  not 
arrayed  like  one  of  these.  But  if  God  doth  so  clothe 
the  grass  of  the  field,  which  to-day  is,  and  to-morrow 
is  cast  into  the  oven,  shall  he  not  much  more  clothe 
you,  O  ye  of  little  faith?    Be  not,  therefore,  anxious, 

216 


THE  ATHLETIC  DAY 

saying,  'What  shall  we  eat,  or  what  shall  we  drink, 
or  wherein  shall  we  be  clothed?'  Your  heavenly  Father 
knoweth  that  ye  have  need  of  all  these  things."     Be 
God's  child,  love  Him,   trust  Him,  obey  Him,   and 
He  will  take  good  care  of  your  to-morrow.     If  you 
will  think  about  this,  I  will  tell  you  a  story  from  the 
life  of  Martin  Luther.     Here  is  what  he  says  about 
being   anxious   concerning   the   day   after   this   one: 
"I  have  one  preacher  that  I  love  better  than   any 
other  on   earth;  it  is  my   Httle    tame    robin,    who 
preaches  daily  to  me.     I  put  his  crumbs  upon  my 
window-sill,  especially  at  night.     He  hops  onto  the 
window  when  he  wants  his  supply,  and  takes  as  much 
as  he  desires  to  satisfy  his  need.     From  thence  he 
always  hops  to   a  httle  tree   close  by  and  lifts  his 
voice  to  God  and  sings  his  carol  of  praise  and  grat- 
itude, tucks  his  Httle  head  under  his  wing,  and  goes 
fast   to   sleep,   and  leaves   to-morrow   to   look   after 
itself.     He  is  the  best  preacher  I  have  on  earth." 


217 


FOB  THIRD  SUNDAY  IN  WINTER 
THE   PITY   EAR 

"He  that  hath  pity  upon  the  poor  lendeth  unto  the  Lord;  and 

that  which  he  hath  given  will  He  pay  him  back  again." 

— Pro.,  xix.,  17 

THE  Lord  is  rich  in  heaven,  but  He  is  poor  on 
earth.  Everything  on  earth  was  once  His,  but 
He  has  given  everything  on  earth  to  us.  When  God 
desires  to  have  anything  done  in  this  world  He  asks 
us  to  do  it.  He  borrows  from  us,  borrows  our  bodies, 
brains  and  spirit ;  borrows  our  money,  borrows  every- 
thing we  are  wilHng  to  loan  to  God.  Our  text  to- 
day is  God's  promise  to  pay.  He  has  great  love  for 
the  poor  and  for  them  He  asks  a  loan  from  us.  "He 
that  hath  pity  upon  the  poor  lendeth  unto  the  Lord." 
God  put  pity  near  our  hearts,  just  as  He  put  ears 
near  our  brain,  so  that  our  hearts  can  hear  when  He 
asks  us  to  help  the  poor.  As  wax  gets  into  the  ear 
near  the  brain  and  makes  it  deaf,  so  Stingy  some- 
times gets  into  "the  pity  ear"  and  makes  it  deaf. 
Last  winter  a  Brooklyn  little  girl  gave  a  pair  of 

218 


THE  PITY  EAR 

shoes  as  a  loan.     One  of  our  daily  papers  tells  the 
story. 

An  instance  of  childish  pity  and  open-hearted 
generosity  was  witnessed  yesterday  morning  on  one 
of  our  street-cars.  Loans  are  not  often  made  to  the 
Lord  on  a  street-car,  but  this  is  one  of  the  few.  A 
prettily  drest  little  girl  of  eight  years  sat  with  her 
father,  a  distinguished-looking  and  evidently  well-to- 
do  man,  in  the  forward  end  of  the  car.  The  little 
girl  was  hugging  a  bundle  which  she  from  time  to 
time  would  look  at  and  smile.  There  was  something 
in  that  bundle  that  made  her  very  happy.  A  poorly- 
drest  woman  with  a  very  sad  face  entered  the  car. 
With  her  was  a  little  girl  eight  or  nine  years  old. 
The  little  one's  shoes  had  seen  better  days.  They 
were  torn  in  several  places  and  the  toes  of  the  child's 
left  foot  were  plainly  visible.  The  woman  and  little 
girl  presented  a  most  pitiable  appearance.  The 
two  sat  down  almost  directly  opposite  the  well-drest 
man  and  his  pretty,  flaxen-haired  daughter.  The 
girl,  whom  fortune  had  favored  with  better  things, 
had  the  "pity  ear"  near  her  heart.  While  she  was 
looking  at  the  worn  shoes,  God  was  speaking  to  her 
heart.  He  was  asking  her  for  a  loan.  After  a 
minute  or  two  she  turned  her  face  to  her  father.    He 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

leaned  over  the  better  to  hear  her  whisper.  What 
she  said  seemed  to  please  her  father,  and  he  nodded 
smihng  at  her.  "Yes,"  he  said,  "do  so,  Dorothy." 
Then  Dorothy  undid  the  package,  opened  a  paste- 
board box  and  drew  forth  a  pretty  little  pair  of 
shiny  new  shoes,  with  red  cloth  tops.  These  she  pre- 
sented to  the  ragged  little  girl.  "Wear  these,"  she 
said;  "I  don't  need  them  anyhow."  Many  of  the 
passengers  smiled  and  some  of  them  smiled  through 
tears. 

It  was  a  proud  little  girl  that  carried  ofF  those 
pretty  little  shoes.  Each  and  every  one  of  the  pas- 
sengers on  that  car  looked  as  tho  he  or  she  would 
have  liked  to  shake  hands  with  the  generous  little 
girl. 

Dorothy  had  made  a  loan  to  the  Lord.  Some  day, 
when  she  needs  it,  the  Lord  will  repay  her  loan  with 
interest.  "He  that  hath  pity  upon  the  poor,  lendeth 
unto  the  Lord ;  and  that  which  he  hath  given  will  He 
repay  him  again."  Some  day,  but  not  always  the 
same  day.  Here  is  a  story  you  can  have  as  a  memory- 
pocket  in  which  to  carry  this  sermon. 

"My  son,"  said  a  banker,  "I  want  to  give  you  a 
lesson  in  business.  Here  is  a  half-dollar.  Now,  if 
you  can  find  any  boy  whom  you  can  trust,  who  will 


THE  PITY  EAR 

take  this  money  and  pay  you  interest  for  it,  you  may 
lend  it  to  him,  and  if  you  invest  this  wisely,  I'll  in- 
crease your  capital."  When  night  came,  the  banker 
said,  "My  son,  how  did  you  invest  your  money  to- 
day?" "Well,  father,"  repHed  the  Httle  fellow,  "I 
saw  a  boy  on  the  street  without  any  shoes,  and  he 
had  no  dinner,  so  I  gave  him  fifty  cents  with  which 
to  buy  something  to  eat."  "You'll  never  make  a 
business  man  in  the  world,"  said  the  banker.  "Busi- 
ness is  business.  But  I  will  try  you  once  more.  Now, 
here  is  a  dollar  to  invest;  see  how  well  you  can  do 
it."  A  loud  peal  of  laughter  from  the  boy  fol- 
lowed this  speech,  which  was  thus  explained:  "My 
pastor  told  our  Junior  Congregation  that  giving  to 
the  poor  was  lending  to  the  Lord,  and  he  said  God 
would  return  to  us  double,  but  I  did  not  think  He 
would  do  it  so  quick." 

"He  that  hath  pity  upon  the  poor  lendeth  unto 
the  Lord,  and  that  which  he  hath  given  will  He  pay 
him  again." 


S21 


FOB  FOURTH  SUNDAY  IN  WINTER 
ALONGSIDE   OF  GOD 

"Yield  yourselves  unto  God." — Romans  vi.,  13 

WE  have  passed  old  Hallowe'en.  I  know 
jou  enjoyed  the  apples  and  nuts  and  all  the 
sports.  I  am  glad  you  were  not  like  the  first  boy 
who  found  a  hickory-nut.  He  threw  it  away.  He 
did  not  know  of  the  sweet  kernel  hid  under  the  bitter 
shell.  Possibly  he  took  it  to  his  professor,  who  told 
him  that  the  nut  came  from  a  North  American  tree 
belonging  to  the  genus  Carya,  of  the  natural  order 
of  Juglandese.  After  hearing  these  words  he  would 
surely  throw  it  away,  believing  it  was  poison.  Even 
if  the  professor  told  him  that  the  fruit  was  a  dry 
dupe  with  a  bony  nutshell  containing  four-lobed 
orthotropons  seed,  I  believe  he  might  have  tried  to 
interest  him  in  the  nut  by  quoting  Bryant : 

Loud  the  black-eyed  Indian  maiden's  laugh, 

That  gather  from  the  nestling  heaps  of  leaves, 
The  hickory's  white  nuts. 

If  any  of  you  boys  had  been  there  you  would  have 
shown  him  how  to  crack  the  nut  and  find  the  kernel. 
One  taste  would  convert  him  to  hickory-nuts.   Later 


ALONGSIDE  OF  GOD 

he  would  learn  to  call  them  shell-barks  and  to  know 
the  tree  on  which  they  are  found. 

Our  text  is  hke  a  hickory-nut;  you  must  crack 
it  before  you  can  enjoy  it.  Many  boys  and  girls  do 
not  Hke  texts  because  their  learned  friends  in  explain- 
ing them  have  used  so  many  big,  hard  words.  They 
would  tell  you  that  the  text  involved  the  free  agency 
of  man  and  a  voluntary  surrender  to  the  Almighty. 
Come,  let  us  open  the  text  and  get  the  sweet  kernel. 
Leave  the  big  words  for  those  who  like  them. 

The  kernel  is  in  the  first  word,  "yield."  Let  us 
open  it.  The  word  is  made  of  two  Greek  words,  and 
means  to  set  or  place  alongside.  Now  we  know  what 
the  text  means.  Put  yourself  alongside  of  God. 
When  alongside  of  God  you  will  be  in  such 
good  company  that  you  will  not  think  of  doing 
wrong.  Let  God  use  you,  let  him  bring  out  the  best 
there  is  in  you.  He  will  use  your  hands  and  feet, 
your  head  and  heart.  This  thought,  hid  away  in  our 
text  is  worth  finding.  It  is  as  sweet  as  the  kernel  of 
a  hickory-nut.  If  you  want  to  be  a  great  man  or  a 
great  woman,  yield  yourself  unto  God.  Keep  along- 
side of  God. 

My  preaching-time  is  gone,  but  I  have  just  enough 
time  left  to  tell  you  a  story.     Thousands  of  people 

223 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

go  to  Freiberg  to  see  and  hear  the  great  organ. 
One  day  a  man  asked  the  caretaker  to  permit  him  to 
play  upon  the  organ.  He  said,  "No,  no,  you  must 
not  touch  the  great  organ."  The  stranger  finally 
got  on  the  good  side  of  the  old  caretaker,  put  some- 
thing in  his  hands  to  think  about,  and  got  permis- 
sion to  play  a  few  notes.  The  stranger  took  the 
seat  and  soon  the  most  wonderful  music  was  filling 
the  cathedral.  People  were  stopping  to  Hsten,  and 
all  were  made  happy  by  the  sweet  sounds.  The  care- 
taker forgot  his  rheumatism,  and  running  up  the 
steps  to  the  stranger  asked  his  name.  The  organ 
seemed  to  smile  in  music  when  the  stranger  answered, 
"Mendelssohn."  With  tears  like  musical  notes  run- 
ning down  his  face  the  caretaker  said,  "I  refused  you 
permission  to  play  upon  my  organ."  The  organist 
would  not  at  first  put  himself  alongside  of  Men- 
delssohn ;  but  when  he  heard  him  play,  then  he  wanted 
to  stay  alongside  of  him.  You  can  make  sweet  music 
out  of  your  hfe,  but  if  you  will  let  God  come  along- 
side of  you,  then  you  will  hear  from  your  life  the 
kind  of  music  angels  hear  in  heaven. 

Yield  yourselves  unto  God,  let  Him  get  alongside 
of  you,  and  thousands  will  listen  to  the  music  of  your 
Hfe. 


FOR  FIFTH  SUNDAY  IN  WINTER 
TAKE    IT   WITH   YOU 

"Our  mouth  was  filled  with  laughter,  and  our  tongue  with 
singing." — Psalm  cxxvi.,  2 

A  FEW  weeks  ago  every  one  you  met  said:  "A 
happy  New  Year."  If  every  one  is  trying 
to  make  your  j^ear  happy,  what  then?  Your  mouth 
will  be  filled  with  laughter  and  your  tongue  with 
singing. 

"I  hope  you'll  have  a  good  time,  son,"  said  a  father 
as  his  big  boy  started  out  to  spend  the  evening. 
"Thank  you;  I  always  do  have  a  good  time,  father, 
for  I  take  it  with  me."  If  your  mouth  is  full  of 
laughter  and  your  tongue  with  singing,  you  can  al- 
ways take  a  good  time  with  you.  Those  who  take  a 
good  time  with  them  are  happy  and  make  others 
happy. 

"What  is  happiness?"  you  ask.  It  is  something 
that  tickles  your  heart  until  it  fills  your  mouth  with 
laughter.  When  you  are  happy  and  your  mouth  is 
full  of  tickle — I  mean  laughter — do  not  let  it  go 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

out  in  giggles  or  be  wasted  in  a  guffaw.  I  heard  of 
a  railroad  engine  that  wasted  all  the  steam  when  it 
whistled  and  had  to  stop.  Do  not  waste  all  your 
happiness  in  a  big  laugh.  If  your  mouth  is  full  of 
laughter,  what  are  you  to  do  with  it?  That  is  just 
what  I  want  to  tell  you.  Let  your  tongue  sing  it. 
We  should  all  have  a  musical  laugh.  We  have  sing- 
ing-teachers, why  not  have  laughing-teachers.'' 
Singing  is  your  heart  laughing  out  loud.  God 
promises  to  fill  your  mouth  with  laughter  and  your 
tongue  with  singing.  A  smile  is  a  little  tickle;  a 
song  is  a  big  tickle.  A  laugh  in  your  mouth  is  your 
happiness.  The  laugh  that  your  tongue  ripples  out 
of  your  mouth  like  a  song  is  happiness  for  others. 

Laugh  and  the  world  laughs  with  you, 

Weep  and  you  weep  alone. 
For  this  sad  old  earth  must  borrow  its  mirth 

It  has  sorrow  enough  of  its  own. 

Your  laugh-song  will  make  others  happy.  On  a 
lovely  spring  evening  some  lonely  children  saw  a 
silent  nightingale.  They  said,  "Sing,  sweet  night- 
ingale, sing."  The  bird  answered,  "Do  you  hear  the 
frogs  .'^  They  make  such  a  noise  that  I  have  lost  all 
pleasure  in  singing."  "We  hear  the  frogs,"  said  the 
children,  "but  if  you  were  singing  we  would  not  hear 


TAKE  IT  WITH  YOU 

them."  There  are  a  few  people  whose  mouths  are 
never  filled  with  laughter.  They  have  a  frog  in 
their  throat.  Let  your  laughter  ripple  out  like  a 
song,  and  no  one  will  hear  the  croak  of  the  frogs. 

Croak  and  the  world  croaks  at  you, 

Groan  and  you  groan  alone. 
This  sad  old  earth  in  you  must  find  mirth 

It  has  frogs  enough  of  its  own. 

Let  your  mouth  be  filled  with  laughter  and  your 
tongue  with  singing. 

Shall  I  tell  you  a  story  to  wrap  the  sermon  in.'* 
A  boy  and  girl,  whose  father  and  mother  died,  went 
to  live  with  three  bachelor  aunts.  These  women  were 
religious,  but  were  converted  in  a  thunder-storm,  and 
always  took  a  little  of  the  thunder-storm  with  them. 
One  corner  of  the  house  was  struck  with  lightning, 
killing  their  canary-bird  and  pet  cat.  They  had  a 
funeral  for  their  pets  and  always  took  the  funeral 
with  them  wherever  they  went.  Took  it  with  them 
to  church  and  to  prayer-meeting,  to  the  store  and 
afternoon  teas.  Some  wicked  people  called  them  the 
"cat-bird  funeral." 

The  two  children,  the  boy  with  red  hair  and  blue 
eyes,  the  girl  with  black  hair  and  brown  eyes,  had 
been  converted  in  a  Junior  Congregation,  and  they 

227 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

took  their  conversion  with  them.  Took  it  with  them 
to  church,  to  prayer-meeting,  to  school,  to  the  store 
and  to  their  play.  They  remembered  a  sermon  on 
this  text,  "Our  mouth  was  filled  with  laughter,  and 
our  tongue  with  singing."  They  "took  it  with 
them." 

The  aunts  made  pets  of  these  children  and  nick- 
named one  of  them  "Laugh"  and  the  other  "Song." 
As  they  were  nearly  always  together,  they  soon  be- 
came known  as  "Laugh-song."  If  one  of  them  was 
wanted,  both  were  wanted,  so  they  called  them  both 
at  once:  "Laugh-song,  it  is  time  to  go  to  school"; 
"Laugh-song,  come  to  dinner." 

These  children  went  to  church  every  Sunday. 
They  called  going  to  church  "getting  their  religion 
wound  up."  On  Sunday  morning  it  would  be  nearly 
run  down,  and  did  not  tick  so  merrily  nor  strike  so 
clearly.  Have  you  noticed  how  hard  it  is  to  be  a 
good  Christian  on  Sunday  morning.?  Your  religion 
is  nearly  run  down.  Our  religion  is  a  seven-day  clock. 
On  Sunday  morning  papa  and  mama  are  nearly  run 
down.  The  Sunday  services  wound  them  up  again. 
Their  friends  noticed  this  and  began  to  speak  of  the 
"Laughing  church." 

As  the  aunts  had  forgotten  their  own  ages  they 


TAKE  IT  WITH  YOU 

began  to  grow  young  and  would  laugh  and  sing  with 
Laugh-song.  They  went  with  Laugh-song  to  the 
Junior  Congregation  and  were  converted  all  over 
again.  Their  new  religion  had  no  thunder-storm  in 
it.  It  had  sunshine  and  song.  They  took  their 
"laugh-song  religion"  with  them  wherever  they  went 
— took  it  to  church,  to  prayer-meeting,  to  the  store 
and  afternoon  teas. 

They  lived  for  many  happy  years ;  how  many  I  do 
not  know,  for  they  lost  their  birthdays  in  the  thun- 
der-storms. After  a  long  and  happy  life  on  earth, 
they  went  to  heaven.  Laugh-song  had  taught  them 
that  God  was  not  in  the  thunder,  but  that  He  was  a 
God  of  love  who  would  fill  their  mouths  with  laughter 
and  their  tongues  with  singing.  They  were  happy 
and  they  "took  it  with  them." 


FOR  SIXTH  SUNDAY  IN  WINTER 

BONE-BREAKING 

"A  soft  tongue  breaketh  the  bone." — Proverbs  xxv.,  15 

ONE  day  I  saw  a  man  strike  a  boy.  The  lad 
gritted  his  teeth  and  muttered,  "I  would  like 
to  break  every  bone  in  your  body."  I  think  I  know 
what  he  said  inside,  "When  I  am  a  man  I  will  thrash 
you."  The  boy  was  mad.  It  is  said  that  yoa  can 
really  make  a  girl  angry  if  you  strike  her  hard 
enough.  If  she  gets  real  angry,  very  angry,  she 
may  want  to  break  one  or  two  bones.  I  am  in  sym- 
pathy with  you  boys  and  girls,  as  I  recall  my  ex- 
perience when  a  boy.  There  are  some  bones  that  I 
remember  having  a  desire  to  break. 

As  your  pastor,  I  give  you  authority  to  break  the 
bones  of  any  person  who  imposes  on  you.  You  may 
break  every  bone  in  his  body.  Wait,  wait,  do  not 
rush  to  the  fray  until  I  finish  all  I  have  to  say.  You 
may  break  his  bones,  but  not  with  your  fist  or  feet, 
or  even  with  a  big  stick.  You  must  do  it  with  your 
tongue.     Not  with  a  hard  tongue,  but  with  a  soft 

230 


BONE-BREAKING 

tongue.  Some  tongues  are  like  a  rasp,  the  kind  of 
tongue  that  makes  "hide-and-seek"  shivers  play  un- 
der jour  nerves.  A  hard  tongue  sounds  like  the 
bark  of  a  snarling  dog.  It  is  often  the  snarl  and 
bark  in  your  voice  that  rouse  the  fighting  dog  in 
the  other  fellow.  Solomon  says,  "A  soft  tongue 
breaketh  the  bone."  By  a  soft  tongue  he  means  one 
that  speaks  soft,  sweet,  kind  words.  Christian  fight- 
ing is  very  different  from  sinner  fighting.  There  is 
more  fun  in  Christian  fighting.  It  requires  a  braver 
boy.  Christ  said,  "Whosoever  shall  smite  thee  on  the 
right  cheek,  turn  to  him  the  other  also."  It  takes  two 
to  make  a  quarrel.  If  all  your  words  are  soft  and 
kind  before  you  are  struck,  and  all  soft  and  kind 
after  you  are  struck,  you  will  certainly  break  the 
bones  of  the  one  who  struck  you.  There  the  fight 
will  end.  He  will  feel  so  mean,  so  ashamed  and  so 
weU  conquered  that  all  the  bones  of  his  mean  nature 
and  bad  temper  will  be  broken.  The  fight  will  end 
and  blend  in  friendsliip. 

How  can  my  Juniors  get  the  soft,  sweet  tongue 
that  will  break  bones?  You  must  have  a  soft,  sweet 
heart.  My  mother  told  me,  when  a  boy,  that 
I  must  get  a  new  heart.  I  asked  what  I  would 
do  with  the  old  one.    Her  answer  was  that  God  would 

231 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

make  a  new  one  out  of  the  old.  I  needed  a  new 
heart  with  a  large  oil-cup. 

You  must  get  the  oil  of  God's  grace  and  love  in 
your  heart  in  order  to  have  a  soft  tongue  and  kind 
words.  If  you  have  a  Christlike  heart,  then  your 
answer  to  those  who  abuse  you  will  be  soft  and 
sweet.  "A  soft  answer  turneth  away  wrath;  but 
grievous  words  stir  up  anger."  An  oiled  tongue  will 
not  speak  kind  words  if  you  have  a  vinegar  heart. 

The  elocution  professor  can  teach  you  to  use  the 
sweet,  tender,  kindly  voice,  but  when  you  are  angry 
you  will  forget  your  lessons.  Get  Christ  in  your 
heart  and  never  permit  Satan  to  use  your  tongue. 

No ;  I  have  not  forgotten  your  story.  I  am  only 
a  trifle  late  in  getting  to  it.  Here  is  your  story: 
A  small  boy,  whose  name  was  Wendell  Phillips,  had 
a  very  soft  tongue.  His  words  were  softer  than  oil. 
He  had  Christ  in  his  heart,  and  he  so  loved  the  poor 
and  opprest  as  to  be  always  ready  to  speak  to  them 
and  for  them.  When  he  was  grown  up  he  was  known 
as  the  "man  who  had  a  kind  voice."  When  he  was 
sixty  years  old  sorrow  came  to  him  and  made  him 
believe  that  his  usefulness  was  ended.  He  kept  his 
kind  voice,  but  the  people  did  not  seem  to  listen  to 
his  words.    One  night,  when  he  was  crossing  the  Bos- 


BONE-BREAKING 

ton  Common,  a  little  girl  stept  out  from  the 
shadow  and  asked  him  for  some  pennies.  She  was 
begging  for  her  sick  mother.  Many  had  refused  her, 
and  she  was  angr}^  very  angry.  Her  voice  was  harsh, 
and  she  threw  a  stone  at  one  man  who  laughed  at 
her.     She  wanted  to  break  his  bones. 

Being  sad  and  lonely,  Wendell  Phillips  wanted  to 
make  some  one  happy,  and  so  handed  her  a  bill  and 
said,  "God  bless  you,  little  girl!"  The  child  ran 
home — almost  flew,  and  rushed  into  her  mother's 
room.  Her  mother  questioned  her  about  the  giver, 
but  all  she  could  tell  was,  "He  had  a  kind  voice. 
Mother,  his  voice  took  all  the  mad  out  of  me  and 
made  me  happy."  She  tried  to  imitate  the  voice; 
over  and  over  she  would  repeat,  "God  bless  you,  little 
girl!" 

Then  she  found  that  God  was  blessing  her.  She 
imitated  the  kind  voice  until  her  own  became  sweet. 
A  friend  sent  her  to  the  Conservatory  of  Music, 
from  which  she  graduated  with  honors.  She  was  in- 
vited to  sing  at  a  great  meeting  in  Tremont  Temple. 
After  her  part  was  over,  Wendell  Phillips  arose  to 
speak.  His  voice  caught  the  young  girl's  ear.  She 
almost  cried  out,  "It  is  the  man  with  the  kind  voice." 
Now  she  knew  who  had  befriended  her  and  made  her 

233 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

great.     Closing  her  eyes,  she  lived  over  again  that 
night  in  the  park. 

The  one  who  told  this  story  said,  "A  few  weeks 
later  the  great  orator  was  dead.  When  the  pro- 
cession passed  his  casket  a  woman,  with  gray  hair, 
and  a  young  singer  stood  long  looking  into  the  face. 
Then  down  upon  the  glass  a  young  girl  stooped  to 
leave  a  sacred  kiss.  As  she  passed  on  she  seemed  to 
hear  the  kind  voice,  'God  bless  you,  little  girl !'  "  A 
soft  tongue  will  do  more  than  break  bones ;  it  will 
help  boys  and  girls  to  become  great  men  and  women. 


234 


FOB  SEVENTH  SUNDAY  IN  WINTER 
LINCOLN'S  BIRTHDAY 

**On  his  birthday."— MarA;  vi.,  21 

ONE  hundred  years  ago  a  boy  was  born.  The 
house  he  was  to  call  "home"  had  a  kitchen,  a 
dining-room,  a  nursery,  a  play-room,  a  bedroom,  a 
library,  a  parlor  and  a  roof-garden.  This,  you  say, 
was  rather  a  fine  house,  and  that  boy's  parents  must 
have  been  rich.  But  all  these  rooms  were  one  room, 
with  a  dirt  floor.  It  had  one  big  fireplace,  one  win- 
dow, and  but  one  door.  There  was  but  one  bed  and 
the  father  had  made  it  out  of  rough  boards.  This 
family  was  very  poor  and  this  one-room  log-cabin 
was  the  boy's  home.  In  this  home  was  the  original 
one-shelf  library.  On  it  were  five  books :  "Aesop's 
Fables,"  "Pilgrim's  Progress,"  a  "Life  of  Washing- 
ton," "Burns'  Poems,"  and  the  Bible.  If  the  boy  had 
known  how  poor  his  house  and  parents  were  he  might 
have  been  lost  to  the  world  by  dying  from  over- 
crying.  A  log  cabin  with  a  dirt  floor — but  at  the 
other  end  of  his  life  was  the  White  House  with  tiled 
floors. 

^5 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

The  parents  named  their  boy  Abraham,  but  the 
name  was  too  long  for  one  room,  so  they  shortened 
it  to  "Abe,"  and  by  this  name  he  has  been  known  for 
one  hundred  years — "Abe  Lincoln." 

But  I  must  not  forget  to  tell  you  that  inside  of 
this  large-small  house  there  was  one  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful homes  ever  built  on  earth.  It  had  a  cozy- 
corner,  light  and  warm,  for  Abe  there  was  everything 
a  boy  could  ask  for  in  a  home.  The  peculiarity  of 
this  home  was  that  while  "Abe"  found  it  inside  the 
house,  it  was  larger  than  the  house.  He  continued  to 
live  in  the  love  of  this  home  all  his  life.  When  he  be- 
came President  he  took  his  memory  and  love  of  this 
home  with  him  and  found  it  more  beautiful  than  the 
White  House.  The  name  of  this  wonderful  home  was 
"mother."  Your  teacher  will  probably  tell  you  that 
our  three  best  words  are  "mother,"  "home,"  and 
"heaven,"  but  they  are  like  the  rooms  in  the  cabin, 
all  one.  It  is  mother  that  makes  a  home,  and  a  home 
and  mother  make  heaven,  so  really  there  is  but  one 
best  word,  and  that  is  "mother."  Better  a  log  cabin 
with  a  dirt  floor  and  mother,  than  a  palace  and  Per- 
sian rugs  without  a  mother. 

He  had  a  strong  body.  With  a  helper  he  in  one 
day  split  three  thousand  fence-rails.     This  gave  him 

236 


LINCOLN'S  BIRTHDAY 

a  new  name,  "the  rail-splitter."  He  became  the 
champion  rail-splitter  of  his  district,  and  turned  this 
skill  to  much  account,  as  is  seen  from  his  bargain 
made  with  Mrs.  Nancy  Miller  to  "split  four  hundred 
rails  for  every  yard  of  brown  jeans,  dyed  with  white 
walnut  bark  that  would  be  necessary  to  make  him  a 
pair  of  trousers."  He  was  a  very  strong  young  man, 
but  he  was  not  handsome.  He  once  told  about  a  pho- 
tograph he  had  taken.  He  said:  "This  coarse, 
rough  hair  of  mine  was  in  a  particularly  bad  tousle, 
and  the  picture  presented  me  in  all  its  fright.  After 
my  nomination,  this  being  about  the  only  picture 
there  was,  copies  were  struck  to  show  those  who  had 
never  seen  me  how  I  looked.  The  newsboys  carried 
them  around  to  sell  and  had  for  their  cry,  'Here's  old 
Abe ;  he'll  look  better  when  he  gets  his  hair  combed.'  " 
It  is  better  to  have  strength  without  beauty,  than 
beauty  without  strength. 

A  poor  woman  fought  her  way  into  his  pres- 
ence and  made  a  mother's  plea  for  her  son, 
who  had  been  sentenced  to  death  for  some  vio- 
lation of  the  military  laws.  Lincoln  listened  to 
her  pleadings,  and  presently  wrote  something  on  a 
piece  of  paper  which  he  handed  to  her.  In  a  moment 
more,  seeing  that  it  was  her  son's  pardon,  she  fell  at 

237 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

her  benefactor's  feet,  kissed  his  hands,  then  looking 
up  into  his  face,  she  murmured:  "I  knew  they  Hed; 
I  knew  thej  Hed!"  Lincoln  asked  her  meaning,  to 
which  she  replied,  "Oh,  sir,  they  told  me  you  were  a 
homely  man,  but  I  think  you  are  the  handsomest  man 
I  ever  saw  !"  'Twas  true.  For  mercy  and  humanity's 
appeal  to  his  great  heart  had  beautified  his  face  as 
they  did  his  life !  He  had  more  than  a  strong  body ; 
he  had  a  strong  and  rugged  brain. 

He  attended  a  very  private  school.  The  private 
school  was  the  chimney-corner  in  the  log  cabin.  His 
mother  was  the  teacher.  You  will  be  interested  in 
his  writing-pad.  It  was  the  back  of  a  big  wooden 
shovel.  When  it  was  written  over,  he  shaved  off  the 
wood  and  had  a  new  pad.  His  lead-pencil  was  a 
piece  of  charcoal.  He  graduated  from  the  largest 
university  in  the  world.  The  university  had  three 
departments — the  fields,  the  streams  and  the  forest. 
When  other  boys  were  playing,  he  was  thinking. 

If  you  boys  and  girls  ever  visit  Rutherford  Park, 
N.  J.,  you  will  find  a  big  boulder  on  which  is  cut 
his  Gettysburg  address.  This  rugged  boulder  is  a 
good  illustration  of  his  rugged  nature  and  strong 
brain,  and  the  address  represents  the  wonders  that  his 


LINCOLN'S  BIRTHDAY 

brain  could  perform.  There  are  but  ten  sentences 
and  two  hundred  and  sixty-eight  words  in  this  Gettys- 
burg address,  but  it  is  the  only  chapter  of  American 
literature  ever  taught  in  an  English  university. 

It  is  better  to  have  a  rugged  brain  from  which 
came  this  wonderful  address,  than  to  have  a  brain  so 
smooth  and  so  well  polished  as  to  simply  shine  and 
nothing  more. 

He  had  more  than  a  strong  body  and  a  wonderful 
brain ;  he  had  a  big,  warm,  rugged  heart.  His  motto 
was,  "Charity  for  all,  malice  toward  none."  If  you 
boys  and  girls  will  take  this  for  your  motto :  charity 
or  love  for  every  person  in  the  world,  and  malice — 
that  is,  disUke  or  hatred — for  no  person  in  the  world, 
it  will  help  to  make  you  great.  His  rehgious  creed 
was  even  shorter  and  better  than  his  Gettysburg 
speech,  "Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all 
thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy 
mind,  and  thy  neighbor  as  thyself." 

In  every  city,  and  in  almost  every  village  in  Amer- 
ica, you  can  see  a  memorial  of  Lincoln.  In  Brooklyn 
and  Manhattan  there  are  five  hundred  and  ninety- 
two  of  these  memorials.  This  memorial  or  monument 
is  the  clock  in  front  of  the    jeweler's    store.      The 


239 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

hands  on  the  clock  point  to  eighteen  minutes  after 
eight.  This  indicates  the  hour  and  minute  when 
Lincoln  was  shot. 

A  little  story  will  show  you  how  large  he  was.  In 
"Our  Birds  and  Their  Nestlings,"  we  find  this  story 
of  Lincoln.  In  the  early  pioneer  days,  when  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  was  a  young  attorney  and  "rode  the 
circuit,"  he  was  one  day  traveling  on  horseback  from 
one  town  to  another  with  a  party  of  friends  who 
were  lawyers  like  himself. 

The  road  which  they  traveled  led  across  prairies 
and  through  woods.  As  they  passed  through  a  grove 
where  the  birds  were  singing  merrily,  they  noticed 
a  baby  bird  which  had  fallen  from  the  nest  and  lay 
fluttering  by  the  roadside.  After  they  had  gone  a 
short  distance,  Mr.  Lincoln  stopt,  turned  and  said, 
"Wait  for  me  a  moment;  I  will  soon  rejoin  you." 
As  his  friends  halted  and  watched  him,  they  saw 
Mr.  Lincoln  return  to  the  place  where  the  helpless 
bird  lay  on  the  ground,  and  tenderly  take  it  up  and 
set  it  on  a  limb  near  the  nest.  When  he  joined  his 
companions,  one  of  them  laughingly  asked,  "Why  did 
you  bother  yourself  and  delay  us  with  such  a  trifle 
as  that?" 

Abraham  Lincoln's  reply  deserves  to  be  remem- 
240 


LINCOLN'S  BIRTHDAY 

bered.  "My  friend,"  said  he,  "I  can  only  say  this— 
that  I  feel  better  for  it.  I  could  not  have  slept  to- 
night if  I  had  left  that  helpless  Httle  creature  to 
perish  on  the  ground." 

Of  God  it  is  said :    "Not  a  sparrow  f alleth  without 
His  notice," 


241 


FOB  EIGHTH  SUNDAY  IN  WINTER 
ST.  VALENTINE'S  DAY 

"To  which  of  the  Saints  wilt  thou  turn?" — Job  v.,  1 

FLOWERS  turn  to  the  sun.  The  sunflower  has 
a  turn-table  on  which  it  keeps  turning  all  day 
toward  the  sun.  Boys  and  girls  turn  to  mother 
during  the  day,  and  sometimes  turn  in  their  sleep. 
They  turn  to  father  when  he  is  at  home — usually  at 
night.  There  is  always  some  person  to  whom  we 
turn.  When  happy  we  turn  to  those  who  will  enjoy 
our  happiness.  When  in  sorrow  we  turn  to  those 
who  can  help  us.  We  are  great  turners.  When  Job 
was  sick,  and  in  trouble,  one  of  his  friends  asked  him 
to  which  of  the  saints  he  would  turn.  If  you  will  read 
the  Book  of  Job  you  will  learn  to  whom  he  turned. 
Did  you  ever  see  a  saint?  "Yes,"  you  say,  "in  a 
picture."  But  you  need  not  look  for  saints  in 
pictures,  for  there  are  many  of  them  in  the  church 
and  some  of  them  in  your  home.  A  saint  is  a  good 
person  who  loves  God  and  his  fellow  man — any  one 
who  loves  twice,  one  love  to  God  and  one  love  to  man ; 
any  one  who  loves  twice  is  a  saint. 

243 


ST.  VALENTINE'S  DAY 

There  is  an  old  legend  about  two  men  who  were 
called  saints.  When  one  of  them  entered  heaven, 
Christ  said:  "What  hast  thou  seen  on  earth?"  He 
answered,  "I  saw  a  poor  man  floundering  with  his 
wagon  in  the  marsh."  "Did'st  thou  help  him?" 
"No."  "Why  not?"  "I  was  coming  before  Thee, 
and  I  was  afraid  of  soiling  my  white  robes."  The 
other  saint  entered  heaven  with  his  white  robes  all 
covered  with  mud  and  mire.  Christ  asked  him  why 
he  was  so  stained  and  soiled.  He  answered,  "I  saw 
a  poor  man  whose  horse  could  not  pull  the  wagon 
through  the  mud.  I  put  my  shoulder  to  the  wheel  to 
help  him  out."  "Blest  art  thou,"  answered  Christ. 
"Thou  art  a  real  saint,  while  your  friend  with  the 
clean  white  robes  is  just  an  ordinary  Sunday  Chris- 
tian."    He  was  a  feeble  saint. 

An  old  colored  preacher  who  had  never  gone  to 
school  was  trying  to  read  the  hymn,  "Judge  not  the 
Lord  by  feeble  sense."  He  read,  "Judge  not  the  Lord 
by  feeble  saints."  A  feeble  saint  is  a  disgrace  to 
God. 

To  which  of  the  saints  do  you  turn?  There  is  a 
saint  to  whom  you  are  turning  to-day — your  good 
St.  Valentine.  He  loved  God,  young  men  and 
maidens,  and  little  children.     He  was  arrested  and 

243 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

persecuted  for  being  a  Christian  and  a  very  bright 
man  was  employed  to  win  him  back  from  Christianity 
to  idolatry.  This  bright  man  had  a  beautiful  httle 
girl  who  was  blind.  St.  Valentine  loved  the  little  girl 
and  told  her  about  flowers  and  birds  and  many  other 
pretty  things.  He  asked  God  for  power  to  make 
her  happy.  God  gave  him  power  to  open  her  eyes. 
The  result  was  that  her  father  and  all  his  family 
accepted  Christ  and  were  baptized.  This  made  the 
heathen  hate  St.  Valentine  more  and  more,  and  on 
February  14th  they  cut  off  his  head.  The  14th  of 
February  is  celebrated  as  St.  Valentine's  day. 

If  you  do  not  really  believe  in  St.  Valentine,  you 
at  least  like,  on  February  14th,  to  play  believe. 

At  Christmas  time  you  play  believe  in  St.  Nicholas, 
the  saint  who  loves  children.  When  a  girl  sees  a 
snake  she  does  not  play,  but  almost  prays  to  believe 
in  St.  Patrick.  At  Hallowe'en  you  play  believe  in 
"All  Saints."  So,  on  St.  Valentine's  day  you  play 
believe  in  dear  St.  Valentine. 

To  which  of  the  saints  wilt  thou  turn.^^  The  young 
people  of  this  country,  England  and  France  are 
turning  to-day  to  St.  Valentine.  Some  turn  to  him 
in  a  very  mean  way — a  way  that  must  almost  make 
him  feel  sad  in  heaven.     These  young  people  send 

2U 


ST.  VALENTINE'S  DAY 

horrid  and  vulgar  pictures  to  the  people  they  dis- 
like. They  call  them  valentines.  Why  should  they 
do  such  bad  things  on  the  anniversary  of  a  good 
man's  death?  If  you  are  tempted  to  hate  your  ene- 
mies and  to  send  them  hateful  pictures  as  valentines, 
just  stop  and  think  what  St.  Valentine  did  for  his 
enemy.  How  happy  he  made  him  by  opening  the 
eyes  of  his  little  girl. 

Let  us  all  turn  to  this  saint  to-day  and  promise 
never  to  send  an  unkind  valentine  to  any  one.  Many 
of  our  boys  and  girls  turn  to  St.  Valentine  in  a  very 
kindly  way.  Love  pictures  and  love  verses,  beautiful 
flowers  and  other  gifts  are  sent  to  friends.  As  St. 
Valentine  blest  his  enemies,  I  think  St.  Valentine's 
day  would  be  a  good  time  to  send  love  pictures  and 
love  verses  and  beautiful  gifts,  not  to  our  friends  only 
but  to  our  enemies.  How  happy  we  could  make  them 
feel. 

St.  Valentine  is  remembered  long  after  he  is  for- 
gotten. Why  do  you  smile?  "How?"  you  ask,  "can 
any  one  be  remembered  after  he  is  forgotten?"  Sup- 
pose I  had  a  bottle  of  perfume,  and  that  I  should 
sprinkle  some  of  it  on  your  handkerchief.  You  would 
say,  "This  sweet  perfume  must  have  come  from  a 
very  beautiful  flower."     Then,  suppose  I  told  you 

245 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

that  no  one  now  living  had  ever  seen  the  flower  and 
that  there  was  no  description  of  it  in  any  book. 
Would  it  not  be  true  that  the  flower  was  remembered 
after  it  was  forgotten — remembered  only  by  its  per- 
fume? Now,  really  all  we  know  about  St.  Valentine 
is  the  fragrance  and  perfume  of  his  life.  St  Valen- 
tine's day  is  the  bottle  that  once  a  year  is  opened 
and  the  sweet  perfume  sprinkled  on  our  hearts.  We 
say,  "What  a  good  man  he  must  have  been;  what  a 
beautiful  life  he  must  have  lived."  But  there  is  no 
history  in  our  books  about  what  he  really  looked 
like  and  what  he  really  did.  By  the  fragrance  of  his 
life  he  is  remembered  long  after  he,  as  a  man,  is  for- 
gotten. But  I  must  close  this  bottle  and  tell  you  a 
story  before  you  go  home.  Once  upon  a  time,  long, 
long  ago,  as  this  kind  of  a  story  goes,  there  was  an 
organist  who  loved  his  organ,  and  could  make  it  talk 
music.  He  lived  with  it,  and  all  his  money  and  jewels 
he  hid  under  its  pipes.  The  organ  was  in  a  church 
that  stood  in  a  deep  valley.  One  day  a  great  flood 
came  and  left  the  church  at  the  bottom  of  a  new 
lake.  The  old  legend  says  that  once  a  year  the 
church  would  rise  and  float  on  the  lake,  and  that  the 
organist  would  come  back  from  his  grave  and  play 
the  organ  until  the  people  would  crowd  the  shore  to 

94,6 


ST.  VALENTINE'S  DAY 

hear  the  music — music  half  for  angels,  half  for  men. 
Just  before  the  church  would  sink  again,  the  organist 
would  stand  at  the  door  and  toss  to  the  children  on 
the  shore  the  jewels  and  money  he  had  hidden  in  the 
organ,  and  they  would  jingle  like  music  as  they  fell. 
The  children  would  sing  sweet  songs  back  to  him,  and 
the  angels  sang  still  sweeter  songs  to  welcome  him* 
back  to  heaven. 

I  think  St.  Valentine,  like  the  church  organ,  comes 
back  once  a  year.  But  instead  of  music,  St.  Valen- 
tine opens  the  bottle  of  memory  and  sprinkles  upon 
our  hearts  the  sweet  fragrance  of  his  life.  God's 
people  continue  to  live  and  to  bless  humanity  long 
after  they  are  forgotten.  There  are  many  saints, 
angels  of  God,  who  are  sent  by  Christ  to  bring 
blessings  to  our  boys  and  girls. 


247 


FOB  NINTH  SUNDAY  IN  WINTER 
WASHINGTON'S  BIRTHDAY 

"They  go  astray  as  soon  as  they  are  born,  speaking  lies." 
— Psalms  Iviii.,  3 

WHAT  was  your  first  sin?  Excuse  me,  I  will 
not  ask  you  to  answer  this  question — it  is 
too  personal  to  be  popular.  I  mean,  what  is  likely 
to  be  the  first  sin  of  any  boy  or  girl?  Our  text  says 
that  a  lie  is  the  first  sin  of  every  sinner.  "The 
wicked  go  astray  as  soon  as  they  are  born,  speaking 
lies."  I  seem  to  hear  you  say,  "An  infant  can  not 
talk;  how,  then,  can  it  tell  a  lie.^^  My  baby  brother 
did  not  talk  until  he  was  nearly  two  years  old."  Is 
it  possible  that  we  have  found  something  in  the  Bible 
that  is  not  true.^^  I  believe  the  Bible  always  tells  the 
truth.  There  must  be  some  way  to  explain  this  text. 
Oh,  I  know,  the  infant  cries  as  soon  as  it  is  born  and 
its  first  lie  is  a  cry !  The  tiny  infant  wants  mama, 
and  cries  long  and  loud  to  make  her  think  he  is  sick. 
The  first  lie  is  concealed  in  a  tear.  In  that  tear  is 
salted  away  a  lie,  some  great,  great,  very  long  ago, 
grandfather  or  grandmother  told.     Some  say  it  was 

248 


WASHINGTON'S  BIRTHDAY 

a  lie  that  both  grandparents,  who  never  were  chil- 
dren, once  told — the  way,  way  back  grandparents, 
Adam  and  Eve.  Put  the  blame  far  enough  back,  and 
it  will  be  easier  to  say  it  is  true. 

We  must  not  be  too  severe  on  Adam  and  Eve. 
Poor  creatures,  they  never  were  children.  I  have 
never  known  men  or  women  to  be  very  good,  unless 
they  learned  to  be  good  when  they  were  children. 
After  the  experience  of  Adam  and  Eve,  God  has 
never  let  any  one  come  into  the  world  except  as  a  lit- 
tle child.  Even  Christ  had  to  come  as  a  babe  to 
Bethlehem.  We  can  not  have  good  men  and  wo- 
men unless  we  have  good  boys  and  girls.  If  as  boys 
and  girls  you  tell  little  white  lies,  you  will,  when  men 
and  women,  tell  big  black  Hes. 

What  is  a  lie .?  A  boy  once  said,  "A  lie  is  an  abom- 
ination in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  and  a  very  present 
help  in  time  of  trouble."  The  boy  said  this  in  fun. 
Let  us  see  if  there  is  any  truth  in  his  definition.  A 
lie  is  an  abomination  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord — al- 
ways has  been  and  always  will  be.  A  lie  is  also  a 
present  help  in  the  time  of  trouble.  The  infant  finds 
it  a  present  help  in  bringing  mama.  The  boy  and  girl 
find  it  a  present  help  to  escape  a  scolding  or  some 
other  punishment.     School  children  find  it  a  present 

249 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

help  when  on  the  way  to  the  principal.  But  the  help 
is  only  a  "present  help,"  for  the  lie  gets  the  boy  or 
girl  into  two  or  more  troubles  where  there  was  only 
one  at  first.  Then  the  lie  gets  into  the  conscience  and 
wakes  the  har  up  at  night  and  scolds  and  punishes 
him.  If  the  child  had  told  the  truth,  one  scolding 
would  have  been  the  end,  but  a  lie  starts  conscience  to 
scolding,  and  it  will  keep  on  nagging  until  the  truth 
is  told. 

This  week  we  celebrate  Washington's  birthday. 
Some  one  may  tell  you  that  Washington  could  not 
tell  a  lie.  This  is  not  true,  for  Washington  could 
have  told  a  lie  if  he  had  tried  just  a  httle.  He  could 
have  told  a  lie  about  that  hatchet  and  cherry-tree. 
George  would  have  found  a  lie  a  very  present  help 
when  he  saw  his  father  break  off  a  rod  from  that 
cherry-tree.  Washington  could,  but  would  not,  tell 
a  He,  and  that  is  what  made  him  a  great  boy  and  a 
greater  man.  The  story  of  the  hatchet  and  the 
cherry-tree  may  not  be  true,  but  one  thing  we  know 
is,  that  Washington  was  true. 

Last  week,  in  one  of  our  papers,  I  read  of  a  little 
girl,  aged  ten  years,  who  had  written  a  composition 
on  the  life  of  Washington.  Her  teacher  wrote  that 
the  composition  was  composed  by  this  girl  "without 

950 


WASHINGTON'S  BIRTHDAY 

outside  aid."  Before  the  little  girl  sent  it  in  to  the 
judges,  she  drew  her  pen  through  the  words,  "with- 
out outside  aid,"  and  wrote,  "with  a  little  help  from 
mother."  A  lie  would  have  been  a  present  help  to 
her,  but  she  knew  the  lie  would  be  in  the  prize  and 
would  destroy  its  value.  She  knew  the  lie  would  get 
into  her  conscience  and  spoil  her  pleasure  in  the  prize. 

In  our  country,  and  many  other  countries,  monu- 
ments are  erected  in  memory  of  great  men  and  wo- 
men.    This  is  one  way  in  which  we  honor  them. 

The  Dyaks,  a  native  race  of  Borneo,  build  monu- 
ments to  liars.  This  is  the  way  they  dishonor  them. 
If  any  one  is  found  to  be  a  liar,  the  Dyaks  heap  up  a 
pile  of  branches  of  trees  to  his  or  her  memory.  A 
few  small  branches,  a  few  dry  twigs  and  leaves — that 
is  what  the  "tugong  bula"  is  at  first.  But  day  by 
day  it  increases  in  size.  Every  passer-by  adds  some- 
thing to  it,  and  in  a  few  years'  time  it  becomes  a 
large  and  imposing  monument,  erected  in  the  memory 
of  one  who  was  a  liar.  What  a  strange  place  Green- 
wood, our  beautiful  cemetery,  would  be  if  such  a  mon- 
ument were  put  over  the  grave  of  every  har.  What 
a  peculiar  procession  of  boys  and  girls  on  Decora- 
tion day.  In  one  hand  a  flower  for  the  true  and 
honest  man's  or  woman's  monument,  and  in  the  other 

251 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

hand  a  stick  or  a  stone  for  the  dishonest  man's  or 
woman's  monument.  Would  it  not  be  well  for  you  to 
celebrate  Washington's  birthday  by  deciding  to  tell 
the  truth  on  every  occasion?  How  brave  it  would 
make  you.  If  you  have  done  what  is  wrong,  go  right 
to  the  one  you  have  wronged,  tell  the  truth,  and  take 
your  punishment.  Keep  the  lie  and  its  punishment 
out  of  your  conscience.    A  short  story  before  we  part  ; 

A  local  physician  who  acts  as  examiner  for  an  ac- 
cident insurance  company  said  that  he  has  to  be 
watchful  in  order  to  keep  the  companies  he  repre- 
sents from  being  defrauded  on  accident  claims. 

"A  man  was  in  my  office  who  said  that  he  had 
fallen  from  a  street-car.  I  examined  his  arm ;  tho 
there  were  a  few  bruises  on  it,  it  didn't  appear  to 
be  badly  hurt. 

"  'How  high  can  you  raise  it .?'  I  continued,  and  he 
answered  by  raising  his  arm  with  apparent  difficulty, 
until  his  hand  was  a  few  inches  above  his  head. 
'Pretty  bad,'  I  commented.  'Now  show  me  how  high 
you  could  raise  it  before  this  accident  happened.' 
He  lifted  it  easily  then  'way  up  in  the  air,  and  it 
wasn't  until  I  began  to  laugh  that  he  realized  that 
he  had  exposed  himself."  His  present  help  was  very 
short. 

252 


FOR  TENTH  SUNDAY  IN  WINTER 
GETTING   READY   FOR    CHURCH 

"He  that  hath  ears  to  hear,  let  him  hear." — Mark  iv.,  9 

YOU  start  every  day  by  getting  ready  for  some- 
thing. Out  of  bed  and  on  your  knees,  in  order 
to  get  ready  to  meet  the  joys  and  sorrows  of  the 
day.  You  get  ready  for  breakfast,  and  ought  not 
to  be  late.  You  get  ready  for  school  and  try  to 
have  your  lessons  ready.  You  get  ready  for  play, 
and  it  does  not  take  as  long  as  it  does  to  get  ready 
for  breakfast.  You  get  ready  for  the  night  by  kneel- 
ing and  saying,  "Now  I  lay  me  down  to  sleep."  Have 
you  ever  counted  how  many  times  you  get  ready  for 
something.'*  Getting  ready  tells  what  you  are  going 
to  do.  If  a  boy  is  getting  ready  to  play  foot- 
ball you  know  he  is  not  going  to  school.  If  a  girl  is 
getting  ready  for  a  party  you  know  she  is  not  get- 
ting ready  for  bed.  Getting  ready  tells  a  lot  of 
things  without  saying  one  word. 

"I  can  get  ready  myself."     How  very  proud  girls 
and  boys  are  when   they  can    get    ready    without 

25S 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

mother's  help.  One  of  the  very  important  things  for 
my  Juniors  to  learn  is,  how  to  get  ready  for  church. 
First  you  get  the  body  ready.  You  are  going  to 
God's  house  and  you  want  to  be  clean  and  sweet. 
Your  body  is  the  home  in  which  the  Holy  Spirit 
lives.  It  must  be  clean  and  sweet.  You  take  some- 
thing out  of  your  pockets  before  going  to  church. 
If  you  take  jackstones  you  will  be  tempted  to  play 
in  church  if  father  goes  asleep.  Little  girls  had 
better  not  take  their  dolls.  Then  you  get  the  mind 
ready.  You  must  take  out  a  lot  of  "thinks"  before 
going  to  church.  You  do  not  want  to  think  party, 
think  ball-game,  and  there  are  other  "thinks"  that 
might  bother  you.  Most  important  of  all  is  to  get 
your  soul  ready  for  church.  Going  to  church  is 
taking  your  soul  to  school.  God  teaches  the  soul. 
If  there  is  any  sin  in  your  soul  take  it  out  and  leave 
it  out.  Sin  will  tell  your  soul  not  to  listen  while  God 
is  talking.  You  get  your  mind  ready  for  a  baseball 
game.  You  put  your  mind  on  the  game.  You  see 
every  play  and  you  hear  every  decision  of  the  um- 
pire. You  do  not  hear  anything  on  the  other  side 
of  the  fence.  Getting  ready  for  church  is  getting 
your  minds  on  the  subject.  You  get  ready  for  a 
difficult  lesson  by  putting  your  mind  on  it.    This  one 

254, 


GETTING  READY  FOR  CHURCH 

thing  you  think  of,  and  you  think  hard.  Have  you 
learned  to  get  ready  for  church?  Have  you  ever 
thought  of  having  your  ears  hungry?  The  ear  has 
an  appetite  when  it  is  hungry  to  hear.  He  that 
hath  ears  to  hear,  let  him  get  them  ready  to  hear. 
Have  you  ever  gone  to  church  with  hungry  ears? 

A  story  that  I  found  in  one  of  our  papers  will  help 
you  to  remember  what  I  have  said.  The  story  is 
"Why  the  sermon  was  dull." 

"That  was  the  dullest  sermon  I  ever  listened  to !" 
exclaimed  Sam  on  Sunday  when  he  got  home  from 
church.  "Yes,  I  thought  so  myself,"  replied  grand- 
pa, with  a  twinkle  in  his  eye.  "Did  you,  grandpa?" 
inquired  Sam,  glad  to  have  some  one  to  stand  by 
him.  "I  mean  that  I  thought  you  considered  it  so," 
replied  his  grandpa.  "I  enjoyed  it,  because  my  ap- 
petite was  whetted  for  it  before  I  went  to  church.  I 
noticed  it  was  just  the  other  way  with  you."  "Just 
the  other  way  !"  cried  Sam  ;  "How  was  that?"  "Why, 
before  you  went,"  answered  grandpa,  "instead  of 
sharpening  your  appetite  for  the  sermon,  you  dulled 
it  by  reading  that  trashy  paper.  Then,  after  you 
got  in  the  building,  instead  of  sitting  straight  up 
and  looking  at  the  minister  while  he  preached,  as  tho 
you  wanted  to  catch  every  word  he  said  and  every 

255 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

expression  of  his  face,  you  lounged  down  in  your 
seat  and  turned  half-way-around.  I  never  knew  any- 
body who  could  hear  a  sermon  right  from  the  side 
of  his  head.  Then  you  let  your  eyes  rove  about  the 
church  and  out  of  the  window.  That  dulled  the 
sense.  You  dulled  your  ears  by  listening  to  a  dog 
that  was  barking,  and  an  automobile  that  was  pass- 
ing. You  dulled  your  mind  and  soul  by  thinking 
you  were  a  terribly  abused  boy  for  having  to  go  to 
church  and  stay  through  the  sermon,  and  you  made 
yourself  a  dull  listener.  I  never  knew  it  to  fail  in 
my  life  that  a  dull  listener  made  a  dull  sermon." 

I  want  to  make  a  bargain  with  my  Juniors.  If 
each  week  you  will  get  ready  for  church,  I  will  do 
all  in  my  power  to  get  a  sermon  and  a  story  ready 
for  you  when  you  come  to  church.  Is  it  a  bargain.? 
Thanks.  We  will  ask  God  to  help  us  all  to  get  ready. 
"He  that  hath  ears  to  hear,  let  him  hear." 


256 


FOB  ELEVENTH  SUNDAY  IN  WINTER 
"THE   VILLAGE    BLACKSMITH" 

"Make  a  chain." — Ezekiel  vii.,  23 

Under  a  spreading  chestnut-tree 

The  village  smithy  stands; 
The  smith,  a  mighty  man  is  he. 

With  large  and  sinewy  hands. 
And  the  muscles  of  Ms  brawny  arms 

Are  strong  as  iron  bands. 

IF  you  pass  a  blacksmith  shop  this  week,  I  want 
you  to  "look  in  at  the  open  door."  Why.'^  Be- 
cause March  7th  is  the  anniversary  of  the  death  of 
Elihu  Burritt,  the  village  blacksmith  of  New 
Britain,  Conn.  There  are  some  facts  from  his  hfe 
that  may  help  in  developing  your  life.  Near  the 
forge  he  kept  an  open  book,  and  while  blowing  the 
bellows  and  heating  the  iron  he  was  reading  and 
studying.  By  using  faithfully  his  spare  moments 
he  became  a  great  scholar.  He  mastered  Latin, 
Greek,  Hebrew,  Arabic,  and  almost  all  European 
languages.  Then,  as  "the  learned  blacksmith,"  he 
visited  the  people  in  different  parts  of  the  world  with 

257 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

whom  he  could  talk,  preaching  "universal  brother- 
hood." In  the  great  Peace  Congresses  of  Brussels, 
Paris,  Frankfort,  London  and  Edinburgh,  he  stood 
like  a  blacksmith  at  his  anvil  welding  together  the 
nations  of  the  world  in  universal  brotherhood.  By 
hard  work  and  faithfulness  in  the  village  blacksmith 
shop  at  New  Britain,  Conn.,  he  climbed  to  the  honor 
of  being  United  States  consul  at  Birmingham,  Eng- 
land.    This  was  a  long,  strong  chain. 

While  looking  in  at  the  open  door  of  a  blacksmith 
shop  you  can  think  of  ex-Governor  John  A.  Johnson, 
of  Minnesota,  who  was  the  son  of  a  village  black- 
smith. His  father  was  a  drunkard,  and  after  wasting 
his  time,  died  in  the  almshouse.  His  son  determined 
to  do  some  good  in  the  world,  and  worked  hard  while 
his  mother  took  in  washing  in  order  to  keep  John  at 
school.  When  he  was  elected  governor,  some  one 
asked  him  how  he  had  risen  from  the  blacksmith-shop 
to  the  governor's  palace.  He  answered,  "I  just  tried 
to  make  good."  One  of  the  most  beautiful  paintings 
at  the  Columbian  Exposition  was  of  a  blacksmith- 
shop.  In  the  picture  you  can  not  see  the  fire  on  the 
forge,  but  you  see  a  boy,  his  face  beautifully  and 
marvelously  lighted  by  the  glow  of  the  forge.  No 
difference  how  humble  your  work  or  home  may  be, 

258 


"THE  VILLAGE  BLACKSMITH" 

there  is  an  unseen  light  and  the  glow  is  on  your  face. 
Do  something  great  for  God  and  man !  Ezekiel  was 
the  preacher  blacksmith.  The  Lord  told  him  to 
make  a  chain.  He  was  a  great  preacher  and,  there- 
fore, I  believe  that  he  was  a  good  blacksmith.  Will 
each  one  of  you  be  a  blacksmith  and  make  a  chain.'' 
Do  each  day  the  best  that  you  can  in  school,  at  home, 
in  church  work.  Do  more  than  your  level  best  each 
day.  Your  enthusiasm  will  be  the  furnace  in  which 
you  will  heat  each  link.  You  will  shape  it  on  the 
anvil  of  your  determination,  and  your  will  is  the 
hammer  with  which  you  will  shape  it  and  weld  it. 
Then  the  finished  chain  will  be  your  character. 

I  hear  your  answer:  "I  can  never  be  like  Burritt 
and  Johnson."  God  says  to  every  boy  and  girl, 
"Make  a  chain."  It  may  not  be  a  chain  of  iron ;  it 
may  be  a  chain  of  loving  deeds.  "I  just  tried  to 
make  good."  This  chain  of  six  word-Knks  would  be 
a  good  one  for  you  to  forge.  Try  to  "make  good" 
while  working  on  your  chain. 

The  other  day  I  found  this  story  about  the  chain 
which  an  old  blacksmith  made.  The  blacksmith  lived 
in  a  village  and  his  shop  was  near  the  church.  From 
early  morning  till  evening  each  day  the  people  near 
could  hear  the   clanging   of  his  hammer  upon   the 

259 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

anvil,  and  they  knew  he  was  forging  a  chain.  Now 
and  then  idlers  dropt  in  to  watch  his  work.  When 
they  saw  how  faithful  and  patient  he  was  and  what 
pains  he  took  never  to  leave  a  Hnk  until  it  was  as 
nearly  perfect  as  he  could  make  it,  they  laughed  at 
him  and  told  him  that  he  would  accomplish  much 
more  if  he  took  less  care. 

Hearing  such  remarks,  the  old  smith  could  only 
shake  his  head  and  continue  doing  his  best,  making 
each  hnk  as  strong  as  if  the  whole  chain  depended 
upon  it.  At  last  he  died  and  was  laid  away  in  the 
village  churchyard. 

The  great  chain,  which  was  found  in  a  corner  of 
the  village  blacksmith-shop,  was  put  on  board  a  ship. 
It  was  coiled  up  out  of  the  way  and  for  a  long  time 
no  one  noticed  it.  But  there  came  a  time  in  the  win- 
ter when  the  fierce  wind  blew  a  gale.  The  ship  toiled 
through  the  waves  and  strained  and  groaned  as  she 
obeyed  her  helm.  To  guide  her,  three  men  were 
needed  to  hold  her  wheel.  Finally,  they  determined 
to  anchor  her.  The  great  chain  was  thrown  over  the 
side  into  the  gloomy  waves.  The  anchor  touched 
bottom  and  the  chain  grew  taut  and  stiff  as  a  bar  of 
iron.     Would  it  hold.^* 

Every  one  on  board  anxiously  repeated  the  ques- 
260 


"THE  VILLAGE  BLACKSMITH" 

tlon  as  the  gale  raged  fiercer.  If  one  link  was  weak 
or  imperfect  the  chain  would  part  and  those  on  board 
would  be  lost.  But  the  chain  was  the  work  of  the 
faithful  village  blacksmith  and  he  had  wrought  each 
link  as  best  he  could.  So  this  awful  night,  when  the 
test  came,  his  workmanship  defied  the  tempest,  and 
when  at  length  the  sun  rose  and  the  waves  were  still, 
the  vessel  with  the  precious  lives  in  her  was  safe. 

What  had  saved  her.^^  The  chain,  you  say.  True, 
but  what  was  the  quality  that  had  been  wrought  into 
the  chain?  Fidelity.  It  was  fidelity  that  had  saved 
her.  Do  you  not  see  how  the  story  of  the  fidelity  of 
the  old  blacksmith  applies  to  our  daily  character- 
building?  Link  by  link  we  fashion  it,  and  in  the 
hour  of  temptation  comes  the  test  of  our  workman- 
ship. One  weak  link  and  we  shall  be  wrecked.  But 
if  we  have  been  faithful  day  by  day  our  chain  will 
if  we  have  been  faithful  day  by  day  our  chain  will 
hold,  and  the  bark  of  our  soul  anchored  to  the  rock 

Thanks,  thanks  to  thee,  my  worthy  friend 

For  the  lesson  thou  hast  taught! 
Thus  at  the  flaming  forge  of  life 

Our  fortunes  must  be  wrought; 
Thus  on  its  sounding  anvil  shaped 

Each  burning  deed  and  thought! 


961 


FOB  TWELFTH  SUNDAY  IN  WINTER 
LESSONS    FROM    LENT 

"And  was  with  the  wild  beasts." — 3Iark  i.,  13 

THIS  is  the  first  Sunday  in  Lent.  The  word 
"Lent"  has  no  relation  to  that  large  family 
of  words — Loan,  and  Lent,  and  Lend.  Lent  is  not 
a  loan  given  on  Ash  Wednesday  to  be  returned  un- 
soiled  at  Easter.  We  have  a  loan  every  year  of  365 
days,  each  hour  to  be  returned  unsoiled  at  the  close 
of  the  day.  Lent  does  not  belong  to  this  family,  but 
I  do  not  know  to  what  family  it  really  does  belong. 
It  does  not  belong  to  the  Bible  family,  for  you  will 
not  find  its  name  there.  While  we  find  it  in  the 
Church  family,  it  has  not  always  been  in  the  Church. 

Lent  is  old  and  very  respectable,  but  we  certainly 
can  not  say  that  it  came  over  in  the  Mayflower.  It 
does  not  belong  to  that  large  family.  The  Pilgrim 
fathers  did  not  bring  any  Ash  Wednesdays,  Good 
Fridays  and  Easters  in  their  boat. 

Lent  is  now  kept  by  nearly  all  churches  in  memory 
of   the   forty   days   Christ   spent   in    the   wilderness. 

962 


LESSONS  FROM  LENT 

You  ask,  "Why  did  Christ  go  into  the  wilderness,  and 
why  did  He  remain  there  forty  days  and  forty 
nights?"  He  had  just  been  baptized,  and  all  who 
were  there  heard  God  say :  "This  is  my  beloved  Son, 
in  whom  I  am  well  pleased."  Now  listen,  "Then" — 
that  is,  as  soon  as  God  called  Him  His  beloved  Son — 
"Then  was  Jesus  led  up  of  the  spirit  into  the  wilder- 
ness to  be  tempted  of  the  devil."  Why.^  In  Hebrews 
11 :  18  is  one  answer.  He  was  tempted  and  tried  in 
order  that  He  could  the  better  help  us  when  we  are 
tempted  and  tried.  Then  in  Hebrews  4: 15,  He  was 
tempted  in  all  points,  just  as  we  are  tempted,  so  that 
He  can  sympathize  with  us  in  our  trials.  What  a 
wonderful  friend  He  is  !  If  He  had  not  been  tempted. 
He  would  probably  have  scolded  us  every  time  we 
make  a  mistake. 

There  were  wild  beasts  in  the  wilderness,  and  at 
night  I  think  they  came  near  where  He  was  praying. 
They  came  growling  and  snarling  and  threatening 
to  kill  Him.  This  was  a  part  of  His  trial,  in  order 
to  help  Him  to  be  patient  with  us  at  night  when  we 
are  afraid. 

Some  boys  and  girls,  when  in  their  room  with  the 
door  shut,  are  afraid  of  wild  beasts — so  frightened 
that   they  bounce  into  bed    without    saying    their 

263 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

prayers.  Wild  beasts  can  not  get  into  your  room, 
but  they  can  get  into  your  imagination  when  you  are 
alone  and  kneel  to  pray.  If  you  are  ever  frightened 
and  find  yourself  trembling  with  fear,  remember  that 
Christ  has  sympathy  for  you.  Also  remember  that 
if  the  wild  beasts  in  the  wilderness  could  not  hurt 
Christ,  then  the  wild  beasts  in  your  imagination  can 
not  hurt  you  when  you  are  with  Christ. 

While  Christ  was  fasting  and  praying,  Satan  kept 
away.  The  wild  animals  were  growling,  but  Satan 
was  quiet  during  the  forty  days.  Christ  had  a  sword 
and  Satan  was  afraid  of  him.  The  sword  of  the 
spirit — the  word  of  God.  But  when  Christ  left  the 
wilderness  then  Satan  met  Him  and  knowing  that  He 
was  w^eak  and  very  hungry,  tried  to  tempt  Him. 
Christ  was  weak  in  body  as  a  result  of  this  long  fast, 
but  He  was  very  strong  of  spirit  because  of  His  long 
talli  with  God.  He  was  strong  enough  to  conquer 
Satan.  When  Satan  was  driven  away,  then  the 
angels  came  and  ministered  to  Him.  I  think  this 
means  that  they  brought  Him  something  to  eat  and 
drink. 

The  wild  beasts  in  our  imagination  may  growl  and 
snarl  a  little,  but  I  do  not  believe  that  Satan  tries  to 
tempt  us  very  much  during  Lent.     He  is  afraid  of 

264 


LESSONS  FROM  LENT 

us  when  we  are  praying.  But  look  out  for  Satan 
after  Lent.  After  Easter,  when  the  Lenten  services 
close  and  you  return  to  your  every-day  duties,  then 
he  will  try  to  catch  you  and  tempt  you. 

Now,  in  whatever  way  you  boys  and  girls  decide  to 
keep  Lent,  remember  that  the  one  important  thing 
is  to  get  enough  strength  in  your  mind  and  in  your 
soul  to  resist  Satan  during  the  trying  days  after 
Lent.  It  is  very  easy  for  you  to  keep  Lent  and  to 
give  up  something  when  so  many  of  your  companions 
are  doing  the  same  thing.  But  when  you  are  coming 
away  from  Lent  with  your  Easter  hat  and  new 
clothes,  Satan  will  meet  you  and  will  tempt  you  to 
break  all  of  your  Lenten  resolutions. 

There  are  three  ways  of  resisting  Satan  when  He 
tempts  you.  The  first  way  is  to  tie  yourself  with  a 
resolution,  to  tie  yourself  up  tight  with  the  Ten 
Commandments  and  the  other  laws — tie  yourself  so 
tight  that  you  can  not  get  loose  to  follow  Satan. 
The  danger  of  this  plan  is  that  the  cords  might 
break.  The  second  way  is  to  refuse  to  listen  to  Satan 
when  he  tempts  you.  You  can  put  wax  in  your  ears 
so  as  not  to  hear  him  when  he  attempts  to  tempt. 
But  the  wax  may  fall  out  when  you  need  it  most.  A 
third  and  best  way  is  to  keep  close  to  Christ,  not 

265 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

only  during  Lent  but  after  Lent — keep  so  close  to 
Christ  that  His  love  will  keep  you  from  wanting  to 
do  anything  that  Satan  tempts  you  to  do. 

Now,  I  am  going  to  tell  you  a  story,  and  when 
you  get  home  tell  it  to  father  and  mother  or  to  some 
friends  and  ask  them  to  show  you  how  to  find  in  the 
story  three  ways  of  resisting  temptation.  The  story 
is  from  Greek  mythology.  It  speaks  of  an  island 
where  strange  beings  called  Sirens  lived  and  sang 
like  angels  but  acted  like  some  one  else.  When  they 
saw  a  boat  passing,  these  Sirens  would  begin  to  sing, 
and  the  people  in  the  boat  would  come  to  the  island 
to  see  the  Sirens  and  to  hear  their  song.  Then  the 
Sirens  would  wreck  the  boat,  rob  the  sailors,  and 
often  killed  them.  The  story  says  that  Ulysses,  on 
his  way  to  Ithica,  having  to  pass  this  island,  pro- 
tected himself  and  his  crew  in  the  following  ways: 
He  had  himself  tied  securely  to  the  mast  of  the  ship, 
and  had  the  ears  of  each  of  the  sailors  filled  with 
wax.  When  they  came  near  the  island,  the  Sirens 
began  to  sing  and  their  music  so  charmed  Ulysses 
that  he  tried  to  break  the  cords  that  bound  him.  But 
fortunately  the  cords  did  not  break.  The  sailors 
with  their  ears  filled  with  wax  did  not  hear  the  song 
and  were  not  tempted  to  stop.    Fortunately  the  wax 

266 


LESSONS  FROM  LENT 

was  not  melted  by  the  song.  They  may  have  heard 
a  Httle  of  the  song  through  their  teeth.  In  the  same 
stories  of  mythology  we  read  of  other  voyagers, 
called  Argonauts,  who  had  to  sail  past  this  island. 
They  had  another,  and,  I  think,  the  best  way  of 
protecting  themselves  from  the  temptations  of  the 
Sirens.  They  took  with  them,  Orpheus,  who  had  x 
wonderful  musical  instrument  and  played  the  sw  it- 
est  music  in  the  world.  When  the  Sirens  i  vng, 
Orpheus  played,  and  his  music  was  so  much  STv^eter 
than  theirs  that  no  one  would  listen  to  the  Sirens. 
I  will  give  you  just  one  little  hint  about  this  third 
way.  If  we  have  Christ  with  us.  He  is  so  brave  that 
we  will  not  fear  the  wild  beasts.  He  is  so  strong  that 
we  will  not  be  afraid  of  Satan.  The  music  of  His 
love  is  so  sweet  that  we  will  not  listen  to  Satan. 


267 


FOB  THIRTEENTH  SUNDAY  IN  WINTER 
THE     CHILDREN'S     PALM     SUNDAY 

"And  the  children." — Matthew  xxi.,  15 

f  ^  1  HE  first  Palm  Sunday  was  a  day  of  great  en- 
X  thusiasm.  Is  the  word  "enthusiasm"  too  long 
and  strong  for  my  junior  Juniors?  Then  we  will 
take  it  apart  and  let  you  look  in  it.  The  Greeks 
made  this  word  "enthusiasm"  by  putting  two  words 
into  one  word.  Their  word  "en"  means  in,  and 
"theos"  means  God.  They  jointed  them  in  one  word, 
"entheos,"  God-in.  When  they  were  very  happy  and 
wanted  to  shout  and  rejoice,  they  said  it  was  their 
God  in  them  that  made  them  happy.  The  English 
of  "entheos"  is  "enthusiasm."  When  God  is  in  our 
hearts  we  are  happy,  we  want  to  shout  for  joy,  we 
are  enthusiastic.  Now  you  know  the  meaning  of 
enthusiasm  and  you  have  had  a  lesson  in  Greek. 

On  the  first  Palm  Sunday  morning  crowds  of  en- 
thusiastic men  and  women  followed  Jesus  from 
Bethany  to  Jerusalem.  We  say  men  and  women  for 
we  do  not  read  of  any  children  being  with  them.  I 
believe  there  were  children  with  Christ  on  his  way 


THE  CHILDREN'S  PALM  SUNDAY 

to  Jerusalem.     Probably  the  fathers  and    mothers 
shouted  so  loud  that  the  children  were  not  heard. 

We  know  that  when  Christ  entered  the  city  the 
children  were  with  Him  and  were  helping  Him.  In 
the  morning  it  was  Palm  Sunday;  in  the  afternoon 
it  was  Hosanna  Sunday.  When  all  was  going  well 
with  Christ  and  every  one  was  happy,  the  men  and 
women  followed  Him  waving  palm  branches.  In  the 
afternoon  the  people  who  had  stores  and  shops  in 
God's  house  got  very  angry  because  Christ  drove 
them  out  and  upset  their  tables.  In  this  hour  of 
trouble  and  danger  the  palm  branches  probably 
wilted.  Then  we  read,  not  of  men  and  women,  but  of 
the  children  who  were  there  to  help  Christ.  They 
shouted  "Hosanna  to  our  King!"  They  were  en- 
thusiastic ;  God  was  in  their  hearts. 

These  children  were  not  able  to  overturn  the  tables 
of  the  money-changers  and  to  upset  the  seats  of 
those  who  sold  doves.  But  the  children  did  help 
Christ  by  cheering  Him  when  He  was  doing  this 
great  work.  I  believe  the  cheers  of  the  children 
made  Christ  stronger  for  the  work  of  Palm  Sunday. 
The  wicked  were  angry  at  the  children.  They  knew 
the  boys  and  girls  were  helping  Christ.  "Stop  them ! 
Stop  them !"  cried  the  wicked  men.    Christ  said,  "No, 

269 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

No !  Their  cries  and  shouts  are  perfect  praise." 
They  were  helping  Christ. 

A  lad  helped  Christ  to  feed  the  five  thousand,  and 
a  little  child  helped  Him  when  he  needed  an  illustra- 
tion about  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  The  lad  fur- 
nished the  five  loaves  and  two  fishes  and  the  little 
child  was  used  as  a  kingdom  illustration.  Your  pas- 
tor believes  Christ  needed  the  children's  encourage- 
ment when  He  was  cleansing  the  temple.  He  needed 
their  shouts.  "And  the  children."  He  had  need  of 
them. 

The  boys  of  a  certain  Sunday-school  were  all  drest 
up  in  their  uniforms  for  a  parade,  and  the  girls  all 
in  their  best  dresses,  were  Hned  along  the  sidewalk  to 
see  the  parade.  One  boy  cut  his  foot,  and  said  to 
the  captain:  "Captain,  I've  cut  my  foot  and  I  can 
not  march  with  the  brigade  to-day."  "Well, 
George,"  the  captain  answered,  "if  you  can  not  march 
you  can  stand  on  the  corner  anyway,  and  shout 
'Hurrah!'  when  we  come  along." 

"Yes,  I'll  do  that,  anyway,"  promised  George,  and 
so  when  the  brigade  came  along  he  took  off  his  hat 
and  shouted  as  loud  as  he  could,  "Hurrah !  Hurrah ! 
Hurrah!"  When  Christ  was  cleansing  His  Father's 
house  the  children  were  shouting,  "Hosanna  to  the 

270 


THE  CHILDREN'S  PALM  SUNDAY 

Son  of  David."  "And  the  children."  Three  cheers 
for  the  children!  They  were  happy.  Dear  little 
Effie  exprest  their  feelings  when  she  said:  "I've 
never  been  so  happy  in  all  my  life;  I  really  couldn't 
be  any  happier  'less  I  was  bigger." 

A  pretty  story  is  related  of  the  late  Dr.  Phillips 
Brooks,  Bishop  of  Massachusetts.  He  had  long  been 
a  favorite  with  a  little  girl  of  five,  the  daughter  of 
a  parishioner,  and  she  was  always  deHghted  if  she  hap- 
pened to  meet  him  when  out  for  a  walk.  The  day  the 
bishop  died  her  mother  came  into  the  room  where  the 
child  was  playing  and,  holding  the  bright  little  face 
between  her  hands,  said  tearfully,  "Bishop  Brooks 
has  gone  to  heaven."  "Oh,  mama,"  was  the  reply, 
"how  happy  the  angels  will  be." 

Christ  made  not  the  angels  only,  but  the  children 
in  heaven  happy  when  He  went  back  to  them.  One 
reason  Christ  loved  the  children  so  much  on  earth 
was  because  they  reminded  Him  of  the  children  in 
heaven.  You  will  find  what  I  mean  in  the  following 
story : 

"Yes,  indeed;  we  have  some  queer  little  incidents 
happen  to  us,"  said  the  engine-driver,  as  he  plied  his 
oil-can  about  and  under  his  machine.  "A  queer 
thing  happened  to  me  about  a  year  ago.     You'd 


LITTLE  TALKS  TO  LITTLE  PEOPLE 

think  it  queer  for  a  rough  man  hke  me  to  cry  for 
ten  minutes,  and  nobody  hurt,  either,  wouldn't  you? 
Well,  I  did,  and  I  can  almost  cry  every  time  I  think 
of  it.  I  was  running  along  one  afternoon  pretty 
lively,  when  I  approached  a  little  village  where  the 
track  cuts  through  the  streets.  I  slacked  up  a  little, 
but  was  still  making  good  speed,  when  suddenly, 
about  twenty  rods  ahead  of  me,  a  little  girl,  not  more 
than  three  years  old,  toddled  on  to  the  track.  You 
can't  even  imagine  my  feehngs.  There  was  no  way 
for  me  to  save  her.  In  ten  seconds  it  would  all  have 
been  over.  After  reversing  and  applying  the  brake, 
I  shut  my  eyes;  I  didn't  want  to  see  any  more.  As 
the  train  slowed  down,  my  fireman  laughed  and 
shouted  to  me:  'Jim,  look  here?'  I  looked,  and 
there  was  a  big,  black  Newfoundland  dog  holding 
the  little  girl  in  his  mouth,  leisurely  walking  toward 
the  house  where  she  evidently  belonged.  She  was 
kicking  and  crying  so  that  I  knew  she  wasn't  hurt, 
and  the  dog  had  saved  her.  My  fireman  thought  it 
funny  and  kept  on  laughing,  but  I  cried — just 
couldn't  help  it.  She  reminded  me  of  a  dear  little 
girl  in  my  far-away  home." 

The  children's  Palm  Sunday !     God  bless  our  chil- 
dren.    Christ  loves  them  and  needs  them,  every  one. 


Date  Due 

N  1  2  '37 

Wv  13  '38 

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OC    5 '53 

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i  II 11 II 

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